Publication
Strategic Autonomy in Security and Defence as an Impracticability? How the European Union’s Rhetoric Meets Reality
This article by Eva Michaels and Monika Sus examines European Strategic Autonomy (ESA) as the EU’s response to the fragmentation of the Liberal International Order. It traces the evolution of EU and national approaches to the defence industry, crisis management, and relations with global powers.
- Author
- Eva Michaels & Monika Sus
- Date
- 14 November 2024
- Links
- Read the full article here
The authors argue that the lack of an EU-wide permissive consensus regarding the direction and applicability of ESA rendered its implementation impracticable. This chapter analyses how EU actors responded to the fragmentation of the Liberal International Order through common security and defence measures, focusing on ESA as the Union's main response to geopolitical challenges. The authors trace the development of EU security and defence policy since the late 1990s, examining both ideological and operational aspects.
Three key strands of findings are presented. Firstly, the pursuit of ESA is best understood through a realist-constructivist framework. From a realist perspective, ESA is influenced by global power dynamics and security concerns, while the constructivist perspective views ESA as shaped by evolving norms, practices, and changing beliefs. Secondly, the article illustrates the slow progress towards EU security and defence autonomy, which is attributed to national differences in political beliefs and goals between Atlanticists and Europeanists. Thirdly, the article shows that despite these national differences, significant progress has been made in EU security and defence policy. This progress was driven by factors such as Brexit removing British opposition and the leadership of national and EU figures advocating for change.