This is the first study of the strategic dimensions of common security which is set in a post-Cold War context. The book explores both common security and more recent additions to the debate - such as the related idea of 'cooperative security'. Separate chapters deal with conceptual issues and pivotal aspects of the contemporary security agenda: the amelioration of the security dilemma, cooperative defence planning, arms control, and peace-enforcement. The book will interest anyone concerned with the reshaping of the international landscape.

The basic idea of common security is not complex. It is that no country can obtain security, in the long run, simply by taking unilateral decisions about its own military forces. This is because security depends also on the actions and reactions of potential adversaries. Security has to be found in common with those adversaries. These ideas were considered in a SIPRI conference held in 1983. The conference had two main objectives. The first was to undertake a critical examination of the concept. The second was to consider the implications of the idea for policy in general, and for disarmament and arms control policy in particular. Originally published in 1985, this book contains revised versions of some of the papers presented at the conference.

After many years of sterile arms control negotiations between the super powers, which did not produce a single genuine disarmament measure - and sometimes had the opposite effect of stimulating the development of new weapons to serve as bargaining chips - an agreement to abolish completely two categories of nu clear weapons, the INF Treaty, was signed and is now being implemented. This historical event, the first actual destruction of deployed nuclear missiles (although not of their warheads) became possible largely because of the radical changes in the policies of the Soviet Union, the "new way of thinking", ad vanced by its leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The relaxation of tension that resulted from this policy was one of the factors contributing to the successful conclu sion of the INF Treaty. Another, no less important factor, was the acceptance by the Soviet Union of on-site inspections as a basic element of a verification system essential to ensure compliance with the Treaty. This breakthrough led to the mutual acceptance of an elaborate and precise verification regime, and thus made possible the signing of the INF Treaty, which in tum contributed to the further lessening of tension between East and West. But perhaps the most important factor, one which carries much promise for the future, was the changed approach to security problems.

The world’s freshwater supplies are increasingly threatened by rapidly increasing demand and the impacts of global climate change, but current approaches to transboundary water management are unsustainable and may threaten future global stability and international security. The absence of law in attempts to address this issue highlights the necessity for further understanding from the legal perspective. This book provides a fresh conceptualisation of water security, developing an operational methodology for identifying the four core elements of water security which must be addressed by international law: availability; access; adaptability; and ambit. The analysis of the legal framework of transboundary freshwater management based on this contemporary understanding of water security reveals the challenges and shortcomings of the current legal regime. In order to address these shortcomings, the present mindset of prevailing rigidity and state-centrism is challenged by examining how international legal instruments could be crafted to advance a more flexible and common approach towards transboundary water interaction. The concept of considering water security as a matter of ‘regional common concern’ is introduced to help international law play a more prominent role in addressing the challenges of global water insecurity. Ways for implementing such an approach are proposed and analysed by looking at international hydropolitics in Himalayan Asia. The book analyses transboundary water interaction as a ‘case study’ for advancing public international law in order to fulfil its responsibility of promoting international peace and security.

Presenting the first analytical overview of the legal foundations of the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), this book provides a detailed examination of the law and practice of the EU's security policy. The European Union's security and defence policy has long been the focus of political scientists and international relations experts. However, it has more recently become of increasing relevance to lawyers too. Since the early 2000s, the EU has carried out more than two dozen security and defence missions in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The EU institutions are keen to stress the security dimension of other external policies also, such as development cooperation, and the Lisbon Treaty introduces a more detailed set of rules and procedures which govern the CSDP. This book provides a legal analysis of the Union's CSDP by examining the nexus of its substantive, institutional, and economic dimensions. Taking as its starting point the historical development of security and defence in the context of European integration, it outlines the legal framework created by the rules and procedures introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon. It examines the military operations and civilian missions undertaken by the Union, and looks at the policy context within which they are carried out. It analyses the international agreements concluded in this field and explores the links between the CSDP and other external policies of the Union.

This book argues that the welfare state system should be adopted globally, not only for the purpose of achieving equality and justice within nations, but also for security between states. Using Finland, Sweden and Canada as case studies, it theorises that the welfare state system and the common security system, which are mutually reinforcing peace structures, should be utilised worldwide as the best method of attaining peace and prosperity. It demonstrates the feasibility of the welfare state in the past, whilst also showing how these historical experiences can be translated into socio-political action to address contemporary global challenges. Operating in the fields of political theory, international relations, and social philosophy, it will appeal to scholars and students of public policy, the welfare state, and sociology, as well as state policymakers.

Given the Ukraine crisis, Russia’s resurgence and the burning crises in the South there has never been a better time to discuss European defence. From November 2014 to March 2015, the online magazine European Geostrategy published a number of excellent essays on the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), all from a national perspective. You can now read all of the essays in this one neat publication. Indeed, in this essay collection jointly published by European Geostrategy, the Egmont Institute and the Institute for European Studies, a host of leading experts give their national perspectives on the present state and future of the EU’s CSDP. Each of the thirty-four essays focuses on the continued relevance of the CSDP when compared to the security challenges facing Europe today. Some essays give a bleak picture of the future, whereas others see grounds for optimism. Either way the essays are bound to provoke reactions of all kinds.

A new conceptual framework for explaining and evaluating EU security assistance operations, supported by extensive interviews with high-level policy-makers.

This book examines the evolution of the EU’s 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.

Addressing security challenges posed by weak and failed states will require increasingly demanding military interventions, often over a great distance and prolonged periods of time. As a result of several engagements over the last decade, the U.S. military has gained valuable experience in undertaking stability operations. However, the United States should not be expected to fulfill such operations alone; we must look to our partners and allies to share some of the global responsibility. In this, Europe is unquestionably the most capable and natural U.S. ally. While most U.S. policymakers are familiar with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, developments in the field of security and defense within the European Union (EU) have thus far received little attention in the United States, despite the EU's increasing importance. One such operation in Africa, Operation EUFOR TCHAD/RCA, provides a look inside the workings of an EU military operation, highlights successes and failures, and draws lessons learned. --