The Future of European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP)
A report from the French think tank Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI) examines challenges facing EU defense policy and calls for an increased focus on counterterrorism and nation-building.
“The next few years will be crucial to determining which direction European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) goes. Some factors will favor further growth and development.
First, the Lisbon ‘reform’ treaty should soon be ratified, introducing important new innovations to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and, more importantly, putting to rest the intra-EU quarrel that has impeded progress for the last five years.
Second, the divisions that arose over the Iraq War are fading, both Europe and the United States and within Europe itself. This should facilitate a more reasoned discussion of Europe’s role in global security.
Third, with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars continuing and a major presidential campaign underway, the United States has entered a period in which openness to independent European efforts is apt to increase, provided that these efforts are viewed as generally positive for the transatlantic relationship.
Fourth, the French presidency of the EU, which begins in June 2008, is very likely to attempt to push ESDP forward into a new phase.”
