Old Europe, New Security: Evolution for a Complex World

Many of the US criticisms of Western European reluctance to engage in the 2004 war in Iraq stem from a perception that these governments are 'weak on defence' or unwilling to 'pull their own weight' in the international system. Secretary Rumsfeld pejoratively designated traditional Atlantic Alliance allies as 'Old Europe', to distinguish them from the freshly minted, cooperative states of 'New Europe'. In doing so, Rumsfeld accused 'Old Europe' of yet again relying on the United States to solve shared security problems. This volume critically evaluates the validity of this view of Western European choices and policies. Rather than a primary reliance on military force as first line defence, it proposes that Western European governments are expanding the set of tools they have to apply to the post-Cold War array of security and defence problems. The volume examines the emergent European security approach from multiple perspectives, in multiple institutions and identities, and in different geographic contexts.

Janet Adamski is Visiting Associate Professor of History and Political Science at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, USA. Dr Mary Troy Johnson is Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola University New Orleans, USA. Major Christina Schweiss is Assistant Professor and Head Counselor at the Department of Social Sciences, United States Military Academy, West Point, USA.