European Responses to International Terrorism: Diversity Awareness as a New Capability?

This exploratory article seeks to identify angles for theory-guided research on European responses to terrorism. It argues that, when placed within the historical context of its own trajectory in the area of border politics, and especially experiences related to the Schengen Agreement, its implementation and cross-pillar collaboration, it is possible to identify a distinct European capability. This article describes this capability as ‘diversity awareness’. That is, as an actor on the world stage, the European Union is able to draw on transnational and trans-border experiences with law enforcement in beyond-the-state settings, as opposed to e.g. conventional warfare in order to defend the national interest. While sympathetic to the ‘normative power Europe’ literature, the article's critical constructivist approach notes reservations against the Universalist bias of that literature and proposes an approach that is more conducive to empirical research instead.