An engaging assessment of the theoretical debates on the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The contributions to this volume bring together sophisticated theoretical frameworks and extensive empirical research. Pluralistic in its approach, the volume emphasizes the role of conceptual diversity for better explaining the EU's CSDP.

This book accounts for transformations in the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)during fifteen years of operations (2001-2016), and argues that the EU evolved into a softer and more civilian security provider, rather than a military one. This learning process was driven by transnational communities of experts and practitioners, which acted as engines of change. Giovanni Faleg analyses two innovative concepts introduced in the EU security discourse since the late 1990s: security sector reform (SSR) and civilian crisis management (CCM). Both stem from a new understanding of security, involving the development of non-military approaches and a comprehensive approach to crisis management. However, the implementation of the two policy frameworks by the EU led to very different outcomes. The book explains this variation by exploring the pathways by which ideas turn into policies, and by comparing the transformational power of epistemic communities and communities of practice. “/p>

Presenting the first analytical overview of the legal foundations of the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), this book provides a detailed examination of the law and practice of the EU's security policy. The European Union's security and defence policy has long been the focus of political scientists and international relations experts. However, it has more recently become of increasing relevance to lawyers too. Since the early 2000s, the EU has carried out more than two dozen security and defence missions in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The EU institutions are keen to stress the security dimension of other external policies also, such as development cooperation, and the Lisbon Treaty introduces a more detailed set of rules and procedures which govern the CSDP. This book provides a legal analysis of the Union's CSDP by examining the nexus of its substantive, institutional, and economic dimensions. Taking as its starting point the historical development of security and defence in the context of European integration, it outlines the legal framework created by the rules and procedures introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon. It examines the military operations and civilian missions undertaken by the Union, and looks at the policy context within which they are carried out. It analyses the international agreements concluded in this field and explores the links between the CSDP and other external policies of the Union.

Introduction 1: The Origins and Evolution of CSDP 2: The Common Security and Defence Policy within the Framework of Common Foreign and Security Policy 3: The Substantive and Institutional Framework of Common Security and Defence Policy 4: The Policy Context of CSDP 5: CSDP Military Missions 6: CSDP Civilian Missions 7: International Agreements 8: Interactions Between CSDP and Other Strands of External Action 9: Practical and Economic Underpinnings of CSDP 10: Conclusions.

This book explains the creation of the European Union's Security and Defence Policy - to this day the most ambitious project of peacetime military integration. Mérand explores the complex relations between the state, the military, and citizenship in today's Europe.

​This book explores the multilayer nexus among inter-related international and regional security parameters that critically define the EU’s rapidly changing security environment. In terms of intensity, complexity and urgency these changes constitute challenges that threaten the very core of European security – both internal and external. In a fluid and transitional international environment of diversified needs and polymorphic threats the space dimension acquires a novel unified meaning. The book closely examines the EU’s current strategic, organisational and defence capabilities regarding global, regional and domestic challenges such as terrorism, systemic instability, global order and a number of crucial hindrances to transatlantic cooperation. The chapters offer not only valuable theoretical insights, but also unique perspectives on operational and organisational elements of EU applied policies based on the testimonies of field experts. The combination of theory-based approaches and the demonstration of the EU’s operational capabilities and weaknesses as externalized through its global strategy choices provide an overall evaluation of adopted policies and their effects. This is crucial in a global transition period that will define the EU’s role and its potential to produce desired outcomes through synergies with its strategic allies.

In this survey and analysis, Michael Merlingen brings together the key issues, themes and debates related to the European Union security and defence policy. He explores the construction and inner workings of EU security policy, as well as its impact both regionally and globally.