Defending Europe. The EU, NATO and the quest for European autonomy

Book abstract:

The President of the United States is also Commander-in-Chief of its Armed Forces, and that Command has an historical resistance to sharing its authority with other political entities, be they nation states or institutions. Europe seeks to define itself as an autonomous 'partner' yet independent from the US. These two perspectives are perhaps at the heart of the tensions and difficulties current within the Atlantic Alliance. This book seeks to bring clarification of these competing ambitions.

The work is organised in three parts with an introduction and surprisingly two contrary conclusions. Part one explores the evolution of NATO and the development of ESDI/ESDP, and gives some time to consideration of the Kosovo crisis and its impact on European/United States relationships and the opening of structural flaws in the NATO structure. Capabilities are the focus of part two which examines the crucial issue of the Euro-American capabilities gap which has led to US superiority both in respect of quality and quantity, and also duplication of NATO's military assets. Part three features discussion on the impact of EU enlargement and the role of non-EU allies and their response to ESDP, and goes on to explore the changing balance within NATO and the proposals for reform. The intensity of these debates by scholars from both sides of the Atlantic is highlighted in the two contrary conclusions which close the work - one which claims that ESDP presents a threat to the Atlantic Alliance and the opposing viewpoint that ESDP is essential for the EU and in the long term interests of the alliance.

The work will interest students and scholars, policy researchers and political scientists engaged in the fields of international relations, comparative politics, defence studies and European Union security issues.

Jolyon Howorth is Professor of European Political Union, University of Bath.

John T.S. Keeler is a Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for West European Studies/European Union Center at the University of Washington.