Power is Always in Fashion: A State-Centric Realist Explanation of the European Security and Defence Policy

摘要

[From the introduction]. The European Defence and Security Policy (ESDP) is evolving into a concrete structure with a significantly improved means of projecting influence in the international environment. Under the framework of ESDP, Europe has not only developed new military structures and capabilities; it is using them in small but significant missions. Much has been written on the intricacies of those developments, their effects on the relations between members of the European Union and on the transatlantic relationship.1 The purpose of this paper, however, is to return to a more fundamental question: why is the EU developing a capability to project power in the distinct absence of any significant military threat to Europe?