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The postwar security system encompassing the Eurasian landmass was governed by the stable crisis produced by the bipolar distribution of power and the alliance system it spawned. Security governance has received increasing attention since 1989. Its rising conceptual salience is derived in large measure from the challenges presented by the 'new' security agenda. A weak system of security governance in Eurasia could be founded upon a system of alliances. Alliance theory has provided the framework for understanding not only the evolution of the postwar European security order, but that of the European state system since 1648. This chapter also presents key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book investigates the important role played by identity politics in the shaping of the Eurasian security environment.
The European Union (EU) has emerged as an important security actor qua actor, not only in the non-traditional areas of security, but increasingly as an entity with force projection capabilities. This book investigates how the concept of security relates to or deals with different categories of threat, explores the relationship between forms of coordination among states, international institutions, and the provision of European security and the execution of security governance. It also investigates whether the EU has been effective in realising its stated security objectives and those of its member states. The book commences with a discussion on the changing nature of the European state, the changing nature and broadening of the security agenda, and the problem of security governance in the European political space. There are four functional challenges facing the EU as a security actor: the resolution of interstate conflicts, the management of intrastate conflicts, state-building endeavours, and building the institutions of civil society. The book then examines policies of prevention, particularly the pre-emption of conflict within Europe and its neighbourhood. It moves on to examine policies of assurance, particularly the problem of peace-building in south-eastern Europe. EU's peace-building or sustaining role where there has been a violent interstate or intrastate conflict, especially the origins and performance of the Stability Pact, is discussed. Finally, the book looks at the policies of protection which capture the challenge of internal security.
In its earliest manifestation, the European project was explicitly a security project. The evolution of the European state towards a post-Westphalian identity is perhaps the most fundamental change that has taken place in the modern European state system. The contemporary threats posed to European stability are generally aimed 'above' and 'below' the state. The European Security Strategy (ESS), adopted by the Thessoloniki European Council in December 2003, singled out terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, state failure and organised crime as the five key threats facing the EU. The study of security governance in geographical Europe has generally focused on two distinct features. First, the institutional characteristics of governance, with particular attention directed to the geographical boundary of those governance structures and second, a marked tendency to emphasise the military aspects of security and consequently the role of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
The rise of the EU as a security actor is connected with the fact that the threat spectrum has broadened. This chapter explores the responsibilities assumed by the EU and the resources it possesses to implement conflict prevention measures. It explores the internal rationale for the EU as a security actor and examines the goals, principles, norms and rules in the field of conflict prevention. The chapter entails the presentation of the various treaty provisions, mode of decision-making, and financial arrangements that demarcate EU competencies in the policy area of conflict prevention. It presents the specific action and programmes undertaken by the EU as well as the resources expended in the field of conflict prevention. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the EU's effectiveness as a security actor in the field of conflict prevention.
This chapter examines the European Union's peace-building role and assurance policies in the region of the western Balkans, where intrastate strife occurred between 1991 and 2001. It considers EU civilian efforts in re-establishing peace, stability and prosperity in the aftermath of the Bosnian, Macedonian and especially the Kosovo conflicts. The chapter explores the extent to which core EU values and principles are transferred into EU peace-building activities and the extent to which institution building and civilian tasks are pursued with persuasive instruments. The activities of the Stability Pact (SP) and the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) were both complemented and strengthened through EU peace-keeping and police training missions. The adoption of the SP and the SAP has given the EU an opportunity to extend its system of security governance and to create an expanding zone of stability in Europe.
This chapter investigates the EU's emerging role as a provider of internal security policies, what we call the policies of protection. The EU has targeted two general threats to internal security, organised crime and terrorism. The rationale for collective or coordinated action to combat organised crime and terrorism is highly developed. An elaborate set of policy principles define the balance between member-state and EU prerogatives. The EU has sponsored a series of institutional innovations that have created general networks between law enforcement and judicial authorities as well as networks specific to certain categories of crime or security threat. There are three major initiatives in the area of policing, particularly when it comes to serious crime. They are the broadening Europol competencies, the creation of joint investigation teams (JIT), and efforts to generate threat assessments of organised crime towards facilitating common policies within the EU.
In the immediate post-war period, Western European security was contingent upon the successful recovery of the European economy and institutionalised political cooperation to meet the common Soviet threat. The gradual emergence of a European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) reflected two sets of concerns, one internal and the other external. Creating an EU that can function as an autonomous actor with a global military presence remains the most vexing security policy challenge facing its member states. The Berlin-plus arrangement has three key institutional components. First, it assured the EU access to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) planning capabilities for preparing and executing EU-led crisis management operations. Second, it made NATO assets and capabilities available to the EU; and third, it created EU-NATO consultation arrangements facilitating the use of NATO assets and capabilities.
From its inception, European integration has served first and foremost the national interests of its member states. The push for deeper integration also reflected the desire to find an internal solution to the security dilemma vexing Europe since German unification in 1871. The milieu policies of prevention and assurance possess a high degree of publicness; the rationale for the EU as a security actor is compelling; and the Community method prevents free-riding. Institutional innovations in the policies of prevention have primarily assumed the character of instruments managing the preaccession process and implementing the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and economic development policies. The goals that the Commission and the member states have set for the EU in the security policy arenas serve as the benchmarks for measuring the EU's performance.
Eurasian security governance has received increasing attention since 1989. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the institution that best served the security interests of the West in its competition with the Soviet Union, is now relatively ill-equipped resolve the threats emanating from Eurasia to the Atlantic system of security governance. This book investigates the important role played by identity politics in the shaping of the Eurasian security environment. It investigates both the state in post-Soviet Eurasia as the primary site of institutionalisation and the state's concerted international action in the sphere of security. This investigation requires a major caveat: state-centric approaches to security impose analytical costs by obscuring substate and transnational actors and processes. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon marked the maturation of what had been described as the 'new terrorism'. Jervis has argued that the western system of security governance produced a security community that was contingent upon five necessary and sufficient conditions. The United States has made an effort to integrate China, Russia into the Atlantic security system via the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. The Black Sea Economic Cooperation has become engaged in disseminating security concerns in fields such as environment, energy and economy. If the end of the Cold War left America triumphant, Russia's new geopolitical hand seemed a terrible demotion. Successfully rebalancing the West and building a collaborative system with Russia, China, Europe and America probably requires more wisdom and skill from the world's leaders.