| Review of: | The Changing Politics of European Security: Europe Alone? edited by S. Gänzle, A.G. Sens |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Heidi Hardt |
| Reviewed in: | Journal of Common Market Studies |
| Date accepted online: | 02/11/2007 |
| Published in print: | Volume 45, Issue 03, Pages 745-769 |
Book Reviews
Reactions to the question of who should provide for the security of Europe traditionally diverge between Atlanticist and Europeanist responses. Revitalizing this half-century old debate, the editors of this volume argue that European states will increasingly act independently of the United States on matters of European security. The authors illustrate this phenomenon through examinations of the EU's institutional development as a security actor, its rising influence in EU-NATO collaboration, and its disagreements with the US over security policy. In demonstrating Europe's empowered role in the post-Cold War security architecture, the editors draw from a spectrum of perspectives to colour what is habitually a black and white debate.
The authors fully explore the divisions and linkages that constitute the complex relationship between NATO and the EU's ESDP. Drawing on constructivist perspectives, the first three chapters explore contrasting security perceptions and shared views of new threats, such as terrorism, whereas the last three chapters discuss changes and challenges to the dynamic relationship. In the middle section, the authors highlight some of the features of European security that are too often left in the dark. For example, Gänzle's chapter argues for increased attention to the European Neighbourhood Policy as a testing ground for security initiatives such as conflict prevention and management, whereas Danilov looks farther east, arguing that Russia and the ESDP should bolster their latent partnership.
The editors of the volume cautiously depict the Iraq debacle as driving Europe toward independence in security and defence by pointing to the transatlantic rift over the decision to go to war and scholars' ominous predictions of severed EU-US ties. Although they cite the counterargument that the Iraq war evidenced the lack of a common security policy amongst EU Member States, the editors shy away from pursuing it further. Shepherd and others, for example, cautioned that the intra-EU discord could herald the demise of the ESDP.
Aside from Anderson's chapter on internal and external security, the volume remains within the comfort zone of traditional state-centred notions of security despite a prevailing consensus that a broader interpretation is required. Although the authors reference 'soft security', this notion offers little value as an analytical tool since it encompasses all non-military security issues. A more useful paradigm for analysing the European security environment might be 'human security', which focuses on the individual rather than the state and which enjoys growing transatlantic support from academics and civil society, as well as UN backing.
This volume ultimately succeeds in unpacking the prevalent political transformations in contemporary European security by expanding beyond studies of the ESDP-NATO dichotomy. It sets an example for future scholars by rising above the flurry over Kagan's provocative portrayal of the US and Europe as Mars and Venus.