This title was first published in 2002: Roisin Doherty provides an innovative insight into European security policy by concentrating on Ireland through an analysis of compatibility of Irish neutrality with security integration. She also analyzes the factors influencing security integration. This contemporary analysis of neutrality also deals with the development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and examines the factors pushing forward the development of EU security policy. A specialized text suitable for undergraduate and post-graduate courses in international relations, European studies and administrative studies, this stimulating volume will appeal to those interested in the European Union, Irish foreign policy, neutrality and the CFSP in general.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1,0, Free University of Berlin (Otto-Suhr-Institut), course: The Evolution of European Security Institutions, language: English, abstract: In the space of a few years, the EU has made more progress on developing its European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) than in the previous forty years of European integration. This has occurred despite the fact that four EU member states that are historically “neutral”, i.e. they are not members of NATO and are merely observers (not members) of WEU. Namely, these states are Austria, Finland, Ireland and Sweden (henceforth: EU neutrals). Many of the ESDP measures (unanimously!) adopted by the EU seem incompatible with such neutrality policies. How, then, has it been possible for ESDP to evolve so significantly since 1997 in light of the fact that the Union must accommodate the concerns of the EU neutrals? In this paper, I argue that ESDP has been able to develop so rapidly because it has been crafted so as to allow for the participation of Austria, Finland, Ireland and Sweden without jeopardizing their neutrality policies. Specifically, this means that ESDP has adopted solely functions that reflect the preferences of EU neutral states – a preference that ESDP encompass matters concerning “security and defence cooperation”, whilst excluding a “common defence”. Thus my independent variable is the preferences of neutral states for ESDP. My dependent variable are the institutional functions that ESDP adopted between 1997 and 2004, as reflected in actual policy agreed upon by the European Council. I limit my investigation to a case study of the Irish government’s preferences for ESDP functions in relation to several specific instances of ESDP evolution (European Council meetings and Intergovernmental Conferences). My paper proceeds as follows: The first section specifies my explanatory factor – the preferences of neutral states for ESDP – and draws on rationalist institutionalist theory to lay out my hypothesis that ESDP will only encompass those functions the neutral states favour. The second section discusses the operationalisation of the independent and dependent variables and presents the data sources to be used. In the third section, I engage in the case study analysis of Irish influence on ESDP. The fourth section summarises the findings, discusses the strengths and shortcomings of my study and rationalist institutionalism’s application to it.

This book aids any researcher, policymakers and military personnel in researching small states and militaries, European defence and security policy, as well as contemporary and emerging threats. This edited collection gathers academic commentators on Irish defence policy, military leaders from across the service components of the Irish Defence Forces and European defence experts to contribute to the first in-depth conversation and analysis on modern Irish defence and its application within the European Union. The aim of this edited book is to ascertain what capabilities are robust, which are lacking, what future threats need to be catered for, and what action is needed to ensure those threats will be addressed going forward. This book will explore emerging issues and applications of modern and contemporary threats within the context of Ireland, Europe and Western institutions. We have invited submissions from scholars, commentators, policymakers and military practitioners to evaluate the Irish Defence Forces and to illustrate the complexities facing small nations in formulating and resourcing defence and national security policy.

At a time when many observers question the EU’s ability to achieve integration of any significance, and indeed Europeans themselves appear disillusioned, Mai’a K. Davis Cross argues that the EU has made remarkable advances in security integration, in both its external and internal dimensions. Moreover, internal security integration—such as dealing with terrorism, immigration, cross-border crime, and drug and human trafficking—has made even greater progress with dismantling certain barriers that previously stood at the core of traditional state sovereignty. Such unprecedented collaboration has become possible thanks to knowledge-based transnational networks, or “epistemic communities,” of ambassadors, military generals, scientists, and other experts who supersede national governments in the diplomacy of security decision making and are making headway at remarkable speed by virtue of their shared expertise, common culture, professional norms, and frequent meetings. Cross brings together nearly 80 personal interviews and a host of recent government documents over the course of five separate case studies to provide a microsociological account of how governance really works in today’s EU and what future role it is likely to play in the international environment. “This is an ambitious work which deals not only with European security and defense but also has much to say about the policy-making process of the EU in general.” —Ezra Suleiman, Princeton University