‘Europe is an economic giant, a political dwarf and a military worm’ said Mark Eyskens few days before the beginning of Desert Storm in 1991, after all these years, it seems like nothing significantly changed regarding the European military strategy. European Council is expected to address military matters with a serious intent to take fruitful decisions in December 2013, but do Europeans actually want to pool and share their military capabilities and if so, what should they literally expect from such a commitment; answers are rather murky.
Even the high-ranked EU decision-makers are conscious of their failure in common foreign and security policy area and it is a fact that member states are too reluctant to engage in any kind of defense collaboration and the tough guys including the UK, France and Germany still have their doubts whether they should fully devote themselves and lead the whole process or just simply sit and watch while the rest of the EU struggle.
Undoubtedly, EU’s area of vital interests constantly grow bigger and bigger as each day passes which call a necessity for EU leaders to consider not only what is going on within their borders but also in Europe’s ‘broader neighborhood’ including the land and maritime security of the Middle East, the Sahel, the Gulf and the Horn of Africa. Accordingly, supporters of an enabled European Security Strategy bring up the responsibilities that the EU is expected to shoulder in the maintenance of international peace in the way of assuring the security of its citizens and interests. To them, it is crucial for the EU to be able to develop crisis management, prevention and deterrence capabilities at a time of conflict in its priority areas. Europeans are well aware of the fact that they could not simply cry baby and ask Washington’s military assistance each time these areas get into trouble.
Although there are many benefits of establishing a joint, yet permanent security strategy that well responds to the threats of EU’s political, economic and military interests, limited interest of major EU powers on the issue spawns the biggest loophole on the way of actualizing such a spirit. Over a decade, the EU is on a roller-coaster called military strategy, there are ups and downs in this journey but the end is nowhere close unless the reluctance among members is surmounted. Promoting cooperation among national defense industries, funding multinational programmes with a joint aim to develop European surveillance or aircraft systems could be small but promising steps that the Council could highlight. These joint programmes are not that expensive and complex as they have been in the past, plus, considering the economic crisis that has been troubling the EU for a while, by this way, EU countries could shoulder the expenses en masse and be able to have more say on the transatlantic trade of military equipment since they will be creating their own.
In brief, the changing nature of security threats in a highly globalized world not only necessitates a strategic planning but also an effective cooperation among the members of a regional bloc. The EU, being one of the prominent examples of such blocs, has started to realize the scope and depth of these threats and the importance of undertaking security-building measures between each other in order to create a firm, yet permanent military presence. At this point, what the EU needs is a unfying force which will help the EU countries to overcome the political and practical complications that haunt the cooperation in defense matters for years. In December 2013, European Council, as the only organ tasked with setting the EU’s general political direction and priorities, should determine the steps of a long-termed roadmap of strategy planning on security and defense, which will ultimately lead to a thorough harmonization.
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Kaynak: http://en.akademikperspektif.com/2013/08/07/eus-military-strategy-expectation-vs-reality/
