The Evolution of the Common Security and Defence Policy: Critical Junctures and the Quest for EU Strategic Autonomy [Hardcover]

This book examines the evolution of the EUs Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) from its inception in 1998 to the present day. Using the theoretical framework of historical institutionalism, it examines both the successes and failures of the CSDP. Drawing on a series of interviews with officials and researchers from various EU institutions, NATO, and diplomatic missions of EU member states, it assesses what has instigated changes in the CSDP, and why some events have proven more determining and influential than others. The book reviews six crises that have shaped the CSDP, including the Yugoslav Wars, the Second Gulf War, the Libyan campaign, the Ukrainian crisis, the Syrian crisis, and Brexit, in order to understand how real-life events have influenced policy. In this context, the book defines the term European Strategic Autonomy dynamically, as the residual effect of negotiation over time. It will appeal to government officials and policymakers, as well as students and scholars of European politics and international relations.

1. Introduction.- Part I: Theoretical framework.- 2. Historical institutionalism and the limits of neofunctionalism.- 3. Continuity and change: critical junctures as game changers.- 4. Global Europe, the European Global Strategy and the quest for a European Strategic culture.- 5. EU institutions as agents of change.- Part II: Critical junctures and the evolution of CSDP.- 6. The  Yugoslav Wars.- 7. The Iraq war in 2003.- 8. Ukraine- Brexit- Trump administration.- 9. The migration crisis of 2015.- Part III: The quest for Strategic Autonomy.- 10. The EUs Holy Grail: Strategic autonomy and the objective of a European Security Union.- 11. Over-institutionalization and the capability deficit.- 12. Conclusion: A Look into the future of CSDP.

Marilena Koppa is Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at Panteion University of Athens, Greece. She was a Member of the European Parlilb