Addressing threats: European foreign policy toward the Middle East since the European Security Strategy

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Hanau Santini
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Qualitative Change ◽  
External Action ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
European Security Strategy

This paper looks at the qualitative change in the foreign policy discourse by the European Union towards the Middle East, as well as the EU’s overall degree of consistency between words and deeds. By looking at European Council Conclusions as well as General Affairs Council conclusions, it will be argued that on a discursive level the Union has taken stock of the emergence of new threats to its security, and has started shifting its attention from state failure and regional conflicts to the threats posed by terrorism and non-conventional proliferation. Secondly, by differentiating among three kinds of coherence, it will be shown that the main source of incoherence in the Union external action in the Middle East is not to be found in its institutional or horizontal dimensions, but in its vertical level, that is between the Union and member states. Examples will be provided in order to substantiate an overall claim: the EU security discourse might have changed; its policies however remain driven by the difficult balancing exercise between Brussels and national capitals.   Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v3i2.184

scholarly journals Addressing threats: European foreign policy toward the Middle East since the European Security Strategy

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Hanau Santini
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Qualitative Change ◽  
External Action ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
European Security Strategy

This paper looks at the qualitative change in the foreign policy discourse by the European Union towards the Middle East, as well as the EU’s overall degree of consistency between words and deeds. By looking at European Council Conclusions as well as General Affairs Council conclusions, it will be argued that on a discursive level the Union has taken stock of the emergence of new threats to its security, and has started shifting its attention from state failure and regional conflicts to the threats posed by terrorism and non-conventional proliferation. Secondly, by differentiating among three kinds of coherence, it will be shown that the main source of incoherence in the Union external action in the Middle East is not to be found in its institutional or horizontal dimensions, but in its vertical level, that is between the Union and member states. Examples will be provided in order to substantiate an overall claim: the EU security discourse might have changed; its policies however remain driven by the difficult balancing exercise between Brussels and national capitals.

scholarly journals Global Threats and European security: Reassessing Pro-national European Nationalism

2021 ◽  
pp. 93-99
Author(s):  
Evanthia Balla
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Security Threats ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
European Security Strategy

The European Union currently faces a plethora of security threats, which are global in nature, cause and treatment. This dangerous situation has not only put the key European humanistic and democratic values at risk, but also the European project in itself. Moreover, it has emphasised the need for redefining its ideological limitations. Under this prism, two main questions arise: How can one perceive Europeanism today, and to what extent can old European nationalist conceptions contribute to a better understanding of Europe’s current global security strategy? In this context, this work tests the demonstration and relevance of Giuseppe Mazzini’s pro-national European nationalism rhetoric in the current European security agenda. The methodological approach to this challenge is based on an essentially conceptual analysis of the European security strategy, focusing on ‘The Global strategy for the foreign and security policy of the European Union’, in light of Mazzini’s thoughts of nationalism and unity, as presented in his work. The main argument of this paper is that the concept of Pro-national European Nationalism is present in the current security documents. However, this seems to limit the ambition of the vision itself.

scholarly journals Reconsidering the Normative Power of European Human Security Agenda

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-23
Author(s):  
Yulyia Zabyelina
Keyword(s):  
Human Security ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Soft Or ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Normative Power ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
European Security Strategy ◽  
The Eu

Previously operationalized under the “soft” or “civilian”, “normative” has become one of the most commonly used titles of the European Union actorness in the world. Optimistic arguments have celebrated the uniqueness of the EU normative power, while critical approaches, on the contrary, questioned the effectiveness and consistency of such an agenda. In the context of the changing global security landscape, this paper seeks to explore the EU-led value-added discourse on human security and its significance. First, it analyzes the concept of human security within the abundance of diverse interpretations. Second, it examines how and why human security agenda was incorporated into the European Security Strategy (ESS). Finally, it explores whether human security agenda plays an important role in the formation of the ESS or it is merely a good-sounding label for political rhetoric.

Fragility and resilience in the European Union's security strategy: comparing policy paradigms

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Edoardo Baldaro ◽  
Irene Costantini
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Management ◽  
International System ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Local Environments ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
European Security Strategy ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The article takes fragility and resilience as distinct policy paradigms, and proposes a structured, focused comparison of how they informed and changed the EU approach to conflict and crisis management in time. The first section provides a cumulative synthesis of the debate on fragility and resilience in the international and European security discourse and practice on the background of which their comparison is built. By analysing the founding documents respectively endorsing fragility and resilience in the European context, namely the 2003 European Security Strategy and the 2016 European Union Global Strategy in addition to the existing literature on these topics, the two paradigms are examined in terms of (1) what understanding of the international system they advance; (2) where they identify the locus of the threat; (3) which role they attribute to the international community (4) and the type of solutions they proposed. In accordance with our results, we conclude that the two paradigms are not in competition, since they emerged from and reflected a contingent shift in global and local environments. Moreover, rather than providing a novel lens to better look at conflict and crisis situation, resilience is found to offer more insights into the EU's perception of its role in these contexts.

scholarly journals The European Union’s Security Conceptualisation vs. its Risk Prevention Capabilities

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-140
Author(s):  
Agata Dziewulska
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Member States ◽  
Peace Of Mind ◽  
The Face ◽  
European Security Strategy

The European Union, as an area of unquestionable prosperity, on which the countries that make up it have been working since the 1950s, faces the constant challenge of combating threats to the security of its societies. In a changing world, these threats are constantly evolving. They were first summarised in the European Security Strategy and the list of threats was revised in Global Strategy published in 2016. The Union is therefore aware both of the processes of change in international relations and of the threats that this entails for the Union, its Member States and society. Does this awareness motivate Member States and EU authorities to consolidate their defence efforts? Are the measures to address the risks to the Union adequate to the degree of danger? Are the policies of the Union so developed as to maintain peace of mind in the face of threats? This article analyses the risks and attempts to answer these questions.

scholarly journals Anti-terrorist measures within European neighborhood policy

2009 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-454
Author(s):  
Branislav Radeljic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
European Neighborhood Policy ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
European Security Strategy ◽  
The Eu

The end of the Cold War brought a period of stability and safety, which gave an additional stimulus to the European Union to play a key role in the international security arena. However, due to the potential risk of importing instability, the European Council adopted the European Security Strategy in 2003 under the title A Secure Europe in a Better World, the first strategic vision of the Member States. The European Neighborhood Policy is designed to avoid new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its neighbors to the east and on the southern and eastern shores of Mediterranean. Accordingly, tackling the issue of terrorism in terms of the new ENP has appeared to be a vital synergic component linking the EU member states and its partners. This paper considers the potential of the ENP to constitute as an instrument for the fight against terrorism engaging joint participation of the European Union and its neighboring region. .

scholarly journals Mining the EU Global Strategy of 2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 209-234
Author(s):  
Łukasz Szoszkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Shared Vision ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Lexical Analysis ◽  
Complex Systems Theory ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
European Security Strategy ◽  
The Eu

This study proposes to apply an automated lexical analysis to the European Security Strategy of 2003, entitled “A Secure Europe in a Better World”, and the European Union Global Strategy of 2016, entitled “Shared Vision, Common Acton: A Stronger Europe”. The findings are not limited to supporting the predominant interpretations of scholars and experts, but aim at exploring the usefulness of text mining techniques in the interpretation of EU documents. Furthermore, the conclusions drawn from the lexical analysis are discussed in the light of complex systems theory, which may be beneficial for the proper understanding of the concept of resilience (mainly its multidimensional nature) and its subsequent operationalization. The last part of the paper includes an in-depth analysis of the EU rhetoric on the UN fora (period: 2014–2019) regarding the concept of resilience, in particular its linkages with human rights.

scholarly journals Operationalisation of the European Union security policy

2006 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-444
Author(s):  
Dejan Orlic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Defense Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Group Concept ◽  
European Security Strategy

The author explores the operational capability of the European defense policy in the last 3 years. From the creation and adoption of the European Security Strategy, the European Union has made several specific steps in the development of the European Security and Defense Policy. Despite the disagreements with the United States about Iraq and the internal divisions in the "New and Old Europe" EU has shown the ability to set new military and civilian goals, make a small, but effective battle group concept for crisis management and conflict prevention as well as the European Defense Agency. The author also describes the main operations and missions of EU in the world, ranging from the Balkans and Africa to the Middle East and Eastern Asia. Finally, the paper analyses the Constitution for Europe and the articles concerning ESDP.

scholarly journals Europejska Strategia Bezpieczeństwa 2003–2008. Analiza politologiczna

2018 ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Czachór
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Security ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
International System ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
European Security Strategy ◽  
The Eu

In 2003, the Council of Europe, the highest political organ of the European Union, resolved to adopt the European Security Strategy. This document outlined three fundamental objectives for the EU: stability and good governance in the area of the EU’s closest neighbors; creating an international order that would be based not only on bilateral relations, but primarily on efficient multilateral relations; and preventing threats, whether new or traditional. The Strategy assumed that the EU would take the responsibility for international security both in the realm of ‘peace keeping’ (peace and defensive missions) and ‘peace-making’ (peace and offensive missions). Defining the threats that the European Union needs to defy, the Strategy enumerates local conflicts, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their potential use against the territory of the EU and its member states, collapsing states, and conflicts breaking out in such states and their neighborhood, as well as organized crime. The assessment of numerous threats to internal and external security, presented in the European Security Strategy, remains up-to-date. There have also emerged new threats for Europe that result from the need to ensure energy security, primarily with respect to the diversification of energy sources. The significance of climate change to international security has increased. The same applies to IT security or piracy. The EU has been rather anxious about the intensification of frozen conflicts, in particular the outbreak of war between Russia and Georgia. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that the enlargement process is a significant stabilizing factor in the EU neighborhood. Fundamental importance is also attached to the review of cooperation principles with the USA, the crucial role of the UN in the international system, and cooperation with regional organizations, such as the African Union. There is also the need to develop a strategic partnership with NATO, in particular in terms of operational cooperation. Another key factor in the strengthening of the EU’s global position is the development of a civil and military crisis response system.

Italy's politics without policy: Balancing Atlanticism and Europeanism in the Middle East

Modern Italy ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaella A. Del Sarto ◽  
Nathalie Tocci
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Government ◽  
Specific Interests ◽  
Policy Shifts ◽  
The Eu

Focusing on Italy's Middle East policies under the second Berlusconi (2001–2006) and the second Prodi (2006–2008) governments, this article assesses the manner and extent to which the observed foreign policy shifts between the two governments can be explained in terms of the rebalancing between a ‘Europeanist’ and a transatlantic orientation. Arguing that Rome's policy towards the Middle East hinges less on Italy's specific interests and objectives in the region and more on whether the preference of the government in power is to foster closer ties to the United States or concentrate on the European Union, the analysis highlights how these swings of the pendulum along the EU–US axis are inextricably linked to a number of underlying structural weaknesses of Rome's foreign policy. In particular, the oscillations can be explained by the prevalence of short-term political (and domestic) considerations and the absence of long-term, substantive political strategies, or, in short, by the phenomenon of ‘politics without policy’ that often characterises Italy's foreign policy.

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