Certain dates in European history are taken to be the significant historical events which changed the course of the continent forever. 1648, and the Treaties of Westphalia; 1815, the Concert of Europe; 1945 the end of the Second World War and 1989, the fall of Communism – these are the events that are attributed to the makeup of modern Europe. But what of the years 1957, 1992, and 2009?
Can Russia’s mistrust of NATO enlargement finally be left behind, as the former foes move towards a new strategic partnership? It is obvious that the introduction of a system including Russia as a strategic partner with weighted voting rights will lead to diplomatic horse trading and lobbying. But it is preferable that any “conflict” in this new relationship be conducted in the back corridors and board rooms of Brussels, rather than in Georgia, the road to Pristina or the skies over Sarajevo.
There are several actors within the Union that have a hand in processing policies and legislation, all of them demonstrating elements of leadership. However, there is no one individual or group whose powers extend above the rest to lead and have final say on both design and execution of a particular policy. The Union works in the form of both supranational institutions, and through liberal intergovernmentalism in the form of cooperation and teamwork from the member states
This essay will argue that the existence of a number of ‘Europeanizations’ is imperative in understanding specific instances of change and integration between EU and member states that differs ‘from policy sector to policy sector’. Furthermore, the sum of these theories amounts to a detailed understanding of how the different causes of Europeanization merge and result in a more unified European Union.
The present-day image of the EU can be defined as a political, economic, social and legal hybrid with a combination of federal, confederal, supranational and intergovernmental features. Whether it should proceed through the development of a U.S.E will remain a matter for deep reflection, for how it really works will never match one vision of how it should work.
This essay will posit that the EU does have a strategic culture, but one still in infancy, beset by weaknesses and potentially insurmountable obstacles. To demonstrate this, we shall explore key diplomatic efforts to enhance European strategic integration, responses to world events and operational deployments, how these have progressively shaped a common strategic culture, and how numerous issues undermine it.
Britain and Germany are, together with France, the so-called E-3. These the states have most advanced economies of Europe, and from the point of view of European security, face the highest expenses and are provided with the most numerous and best equipped armies on the continent. Each have used the process of European Integration and the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy to pursue their national interests.
The Treaty of Maastricht elaborated and implemented concepts discussed in the previous Single European Act of 1986. It also established the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the Treaty on European Union (TEU) which lead to the construction of the main pillars of the European Union and the introduction of the single currency.
IN 1992, Milton Friedman asked: “how many more fiascos will it take before responsible people are finally convinced that a system of pegged exchange rates is not a satisfactory financial arrangement for a group of large countries with independent political systems and independent national policies?” Maybe the Greek debt crisis is the fiasco.
This research seeks to explore whether, and to what extent the intelligence sharing has increased between the US and the EU member states post 9/11, and to offer predictions on future trends. Different potential scenarios in future intelligence cooperation are presented, based on the threat of Islamic terrorism to the US and EU.
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