Funding: £320,944 (Economic and Social Research Council ESRC)
Researcher: Professor Anand Menon
Politicians, commentators and academics have devoted much time and energy to debating the role of the European Union in international affairs. This has been particularly true since the inception, in 1999, of the European Security and Defence Policy which led to a huge upsurge in interest in the EU as an international actor.
ESDP for the first time endowed the Union with the capacity to undertake military interventions. In the ten years following its creation, debates have raged as to its nature and potential. Thus, whilst some have hailed the birth of a new European 'superpower' in the making, others have bemoaned what they perceive to be the failure of the EU to match its ambitious declared objectives in the military field with actions.
Project aims and objectives
The aim of the proposed project is to carry out detailed research, via both documentary evidence and interviews with policy makers, in order to assess the validity of these competing claims. In so doing, it will also achieve two further goals.The project will derive from the case of ESDP insights into the nature and functioning of international security institutions more generally.
Social scientists have long debated the role of institutions in social life, yet there is a lack of scholarly literature dealing with security institutions and their impact. In assessing ESDP, the research will tease out insights of relevance to all those working on such institutions, thereby adding to the stock of knowledge about these crucial aspects of international politics.