CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy) and Non Proliferation

Exposé Politique & international Questions européennes

Date de publication :

19/12/2007

Langue :

Anglais

Format :

.pdf

Nombre de pages :

12 pages

Niveau :

expert

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1 fois

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Sommaire :

Sommaire

Assessing the threats on Europe
1. Ballistic missiles
2. Nuclear weapons
3. Chemical and biological weapons
4. How does the EU present the threats ?
Creating and using CFSP tools
1. The choice of the strategy
2. The actions of the CFSP

Résumé :

Since the end of the Cold War, nature and origins of threats on Europe have changed. This evolution of repartition of powers in the world led some countries to develop their defence and military capabilities, whether it concerns missiles, biological or chemical weapons, or the ultimate military achievement, nuclear weapons. These countries are considered proliferant, although the definition of proliferation remains different from one country to another. We consider in this paper that proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) consists in the acquisition of ballistic missiles (by purchasing or developing them), the establishment of nuclear programmes for military purposes, and the development of biological and chemical weapons. To what extend is Europe security concerned? What are the tools at the disposal of the EU, and especially the common foreign and security policy (cfsp)? The territorial security, and especially when it comes to military matters, is primarily a state concern. But in the European Union, member states have pooled their powers and concerns, which allowed not only common actions but also common worries. If Greece or Italy territories are threatened, Sweden, United Kingdom and all other member states are concerned by this threat. In other words, European security is the sum of all member states securities. The dominant theory in security studies is Neorealism. It seems for this topic more than appropriate, as proliferation is nowadays among the main causes of concern for security dilemma. How does this theory analyse the international realm? There is in the world no central authority, all states are equal and rational actors, and their priority is at least to ensure territorial security. Facing more powerful states - in terms of military, political or economic power - they have to develop the same capabilities, including defensive capabilities, in order to balance with other states, and even more capabilities if they want to be more powerful. This struggle for balance is called « security dilemma ». In this analytical framework, what is the role of proliferation? What is the role of fight against proliferation? Although the common sense makes non proliferation an « obvious » policy, the creator of Neorealism himself, Kenneth Waltz, claims the opposite. To him proliferation is a solution to security dilemma. It creates a kind of balance of threats and in the end, it prevents wars. But in this context we fully realize that uncertainty cannot be ignored, and it is risky to rely totally on states rationality. Furthermore proliferation also creates circulation of weapons, technologies and know-how. The African continent, with conflicts in Sierra Leone, Sudan and Somalia, is an example that this proliferation feeds conflict hot-spots. So in this analytical framework, starting from the assumption that states face a security dilemma, a hypothesis can be made. With the evolution of war technologies and at the same time the lower risk of direct conflict than in the past, nowadays the expression of security dilemma is for some states to proliferate, and for some others (including the EU) to fight against proliferation by different means. How efficient is this fight? What are the tools available? What is the strategy of the cfsp? It must be stated as a first step what the threats on the European continent really are (I), in order to evaluate how the states proliferate in the world, in what manner and to what extend, and in order to evaluate the security dilemma that the EU is facing nowadays. Only as a second step then the tools available of cfsp must be evaluated (II), in order to understand the strategic approach of the EU concerning non proliferation.