Foreign policy & defence
EU should duplicate NATO assets
01 June 2001
Many American policy-makers are worried that the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) could undermine NATO and damage the transatlantic relationship.
Issue 18 - 2001
25 May 2001
- Time to act in the Middle East, Steven Everts
- Workers are entitled to consultation, John Monks
- EU should duplicate NATO assets, Kori Schake
Europe's military revolution
02 March 2001
The creation of the single European currency, a revolutionary innovation for the European Union (EU), has provoked tumultuous debate across the continent and beyond. Yet the EU's plans for a common defence policy have - thus far - attracted less attention.
Unilateral America? Lightweight Europe? Managing divergence in transatlantic foreign policy
02 February 2001
The election of George W Bush as the new US President has caused uneasiness in Europe, both at the level of individual states and that of the European Union (EU). Bush has assembled an impressive team to work on foreign policy, including Colin Powell as the new Secretary of State,...
What comes after Nice
02 February 2001
Both the outcome at Nice and the methods used to achieve it have left widespread dissatisfaction. Any deal would have been good for enlargement, in allowing the EU to move ahead. But the unseemly spectacle of 15 countries scrambling for position was hardly a shining example of inter-governmentalism at work....
Set a date for enlargement now
01 December 2000
The EU has an accession process, but still needs an enlargement strategy. The European Commission deserves credit for keeping the accession negotiations going, but we are reaching the limits of what the EU institutions can achieve.
Issue 21 - 2001
24 November 2000
- NATO's big bang , Andrew Cottey
- Time to abolish the EU's rotating presidency, Steven Everts
- The euro comes of age, Alasdair Murray
Opening the US defence market
03 November 2000
Many European defence companies aspire to gain access to the US defence market. America has the largest defence budget in the world – some $280 billion, or 3.3 per cent of GDP in 2000 – and is the source of much of the world's most advanced defence technology.
How flexible should Europe be?
06 October 2000
A European Union (EU) of 26 or more member-states will certainly be far more diverse – in economic, social, cultural and political terms – than the current one. Few people would argue that a monolithic, homogenous Union is what Europe needs.
European defence: The next steps
02 October 2000
Last year, the Kosovo air war highlighted the impotence of Europe's armed forces.The Americans provided more than three-quarters of the bombs dropped, and most of the advanced communications equipment.
Issue 14 - 2000
29 September 2000
- European defence: The next steps, Charles Grant, Christoph Bertram, François Heisbourg
- Europe needs an avant-garde, but..., Jacques Delors
- A new institutional vision, Charles Grant
Europe's military ambitions
01 June 2000
The European Union's 'Headline Goal', agreed at the Helsinki Summit in December 1999, calls for the creation of a 60,000-strong rapid-reaction force by 2003. Turning that goal into reality is extremely difficult. To deploy and sustain such a force in a combat zone for a year would require - given...
Issue 12 - 2000
26 May 2000
- Beware the strong euro, Alasdair Murray
- Europe's military ambitions, Klaus Naumann
- Mr Prodi's second chance, Charles Grant
- Federalism's last gasp, Ben Hall
Intimate relations: Can Britain play a leading role in European defence - and keep its special links to US intelligence?
05 May 2000
One of the most constant features of the geopolitical landscape is the special relationship between London and Washington on intelligence matters. One of the most rapidly changing and unpredictable elements of that landscape is the emergence of a European Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
Europe and missile defence
03 April 2000
On each side of the Atlantic a new defence initiative is seen from the other side as unnecessary, confusing and worrying: the Europeans' plan for a European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and the Americans' plan for National Missile Defense (NMD).
Corruption in Eastern Europe
01 February 2000
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the integration of Eastern Europe into the European Union - but the least discussed - is corruption. The problem is not absent in Western Europe or the EU institutions, of course, but in many parts of Eastern Europe bribery is endemic.
One cost of corruption...
One cost of corruption...
Open the US defence market
01 February 2000
The consolidation of Europe's defence industry continues apace, with the creation of a Franco-German-Spanish combine, EADS, being the most significant move to date.
Issue 10 - 2000
28 January 2000
- How to help Russia, Charles Grant
- Corruption in Eastern Europe, Liz Barrett
- Open the US defence market, Alexandra Ashbourne
The impact of the euro on transatlantic relations
07 January 2000
European Union is, almost by definition, subject to strain and tension. During the Cold War some stability was maintained by the common external threat that bound the NATO allies together under US leadership.
Pooling forces
01 December 1999
After many years of talking about boosting their defence capabilities but doing very little, the Europeans have made substantial progress in 1999. European governments have begun to develop the defence dimension of their common foreign and security policy.