A European Security Architecture after the Cold War provides a critical account of the re-projection and redefinition of Western values and security institutions in the post-Coldwar era. This transformation is explored in three stages. The first stage covers the period 1990-91 and explains the preservation of a `western security community' inherited from the Cold War, through a process of institutional reconstruction largely carried out on paper. The second stage from 1991 to 1992 sees the incorporation of a `purpose' for these institutions as a framework for the implementation of collective security. The third stage explores the emerging questions of legitimacy surrounding the new tasks of these institutions as they become embroiled in the war in the former Yugoslavia. The precedents of legitimate intervention in upholding democracy, free markets and human rights in the post-coldwar era are examined from the perspectives of international law and Gramscian derived concepts of legitimacy, focusing on the acceptance of military power by civil society, and how intervention in these terms becomes a 'cultural practice'.

Four years after the end of the Cold War, the United States and its European allies have still not agreed on a new security system to deal with war in Yugoslavia, a restless eastern Europe, and an unstable Russia. The contributors to this timely volume evaluate reforms in the North Atlantic Alliance, the new European Union, and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). They also explore a number of critical issues: Why is it that NATO cannot end the Yugoslav conflict? Why do the Americans and West Europeans quarrel over a European Security and Defense Identity? Why is it that the states of Central and Eastern Europe cannot simply join NATO? Is the CSCE becoming the pan-European security organization that will bear responsibility for preventing or managing future conflicts? The book offers careful analysis of the pivotal years of reform between 1989 and 1992. In the first section, the contributors assess those developments from the viewpoint of the key institutions—NATO, CSCE, the European Union, and its security arm, the Western European Union (WEU). They then examine the policies of the key allies—the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. The book concludes that the current problems in European security affairs are directly explained by the discord, divergences, and contradictions that have characterized the crucial formative years of these newly significant organizations. In the closing chapter, the editors suggest pragmatic political initiatives for strengthening these groups in the near future.

In this new Brookings Marshall Paper, Michael O'Hanlon argues that now is the time for Western nations to negotiate a new security architecture for neutral countries in eastern Europe to stabilize the region and reduce the risks of war with Russia. He believes NATO expansion has gone far enough. The core concept of this new security architecture would be one of permanent neutrality. The countries in question collectively make a broken-up arc, from Europe's far north to its south: Finland and Sweden; Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus; Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; and finally Cyprus plus Serbia, as well as possibly several other Balkan states. Discussion on the new framework should begin within NATO, followed by deliberation with the neutral countries themselves, and then formal negotiations with Russia. The new security architecture would require that Russia, like NATO, commit to help uphold the security of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and other states in the region. Russia would have to withdraw its troops from those countries in a verifiable manner; after that, corresponding sanctions on Russia would be lifted. The neutral countries would retain their rights to participate in multilateral security operations on a scale comparable to what has been the case in the past, including even those operations that might be led by NATO. They could think of and describe themselves as Western states (or anything else, for that matter). If the European Union and they so wished in the future, they could join the EU. They would have complete sovereignty and self-determination in every sense of the word. But NATO would decide not to invite them into the alliance as members. Ideally, these nations would endorse and promote this concept themselves as a more practical way to ensure their security than the current situation or any other plausible alternative.

This book provides a detailed overview of the debate about the institutional context of Western European security after the Cold War. It discusses various aspects of contemporary European security 'architecture' and explores various aspects of the new transatlantic and European threat environment.

Contemporary European Security explores the complex European security architecture and introduces students to the empirical, theoretical and conceptual approaches to studying the subject. Written by experts in each subfield, it addresses key topics within the wider strategic context of international security. Presenting traditional and critical debates to illuminate this ever-changing field it addresses specifically: European security since 2000 and the end of the Cold War. The evolution of International Relations theories in understanding security in Europe. The role of NATO in the post-war period and its strategy, impact and enlargement. The institutionalisation of the CSCE and the political tensions within the OSCE. The EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy and recent policy initiatives in defence. Feminist conceptions of European security. European military innovation. Security challenges in the post-Soviet space and the growing instability in the Middle East and North Africa. The emergence of human security. Internal and societal security. This essential textbook will be of key interests to students and scholars of European Security, Security and Military studies, Strategic Studies, European Politics and International Relations.