This book analyses whether the EU’s drift towards European strategic autonomy presents a challenge or a window of opportunity for its small member states to advance their security interests. The volume presents small states’ perceptions of European strategic autonomy, highlighting their expectations and concerns. The chapters focus on the depth and breadth of European strategic autonomy, national security considerations, assessment of the impact on transatlantic relations, the expected outputs, and its potential impact on the EU’s institutional structure. It also shows how systemic circumstances and the interests of powerful states, either belonging to the EU (France, Germany, and Poland) or having a significant say in European security architecture (the US), establish opportunities and constraints for the small states to shape European strategic autonomy. In particular, the study focuses on the diverging interests of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, and the Netherlands. It demonstrates that, in most cases, European strategic autonomy is perceived not as an alternative to NATO but as a supplementary element that could facilitate the development of national military capabilities, indigenous defence industries and resilience to non-military threats. Ultimately, the book suggests that national approaches towards European strategic autonomy mainly stem from pragmatic national security and foreign policy considerations, while largely ignoring grand strategic ideas. This book will be of much interest to students of European politics, security studies, and international relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book explains what ‘small’ states are and explores their current security challenges, in general terms and through specific examples. It reflects the shift from traditional security definitions emphasizing defence and armaments, to new security concerns such as economic, societal and environmental security where institutional cooperation looms larger. These complex issues, linked with traditional power relations and new types of actors, need to be tackled with due regard to democracy and good governance. Key policy challenges for small states are examined and applied in the regional case studies. The book deals mainly with the current experience and recent past of such states but also offers insights for their future policies. Although many of the states covered are European, the study also includes African, Caribbean and Asian small states. Their particular interest and relevance is outlined, as is the connection between their security challenges and their smallness. Policy lessons for other states are then sought. The book is the first in-depth, multi-continent study of security as an aspect of small state governance today. It is novel in placing the security dilemmas of small states in the context of wider ideas on international and institutional change, and in dealing with non-European states and regions.

This book studies how domestic contestation influences the security policy of small states within the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). A multinational group of expert contributors consider how domestic contestation is translated into small states’ foreign policies, how membership of international organisations alters attitudes to security policy in small states and how patterns of small states’ behaviour across domestic traditions, security cultures and geographical location can be identified. Anchored in new institutionalism, the book explores the influence of international organisations on security policies and the tensions created by connecting four strands of literature, on Europeanisation, on the impact of and on institutions, on the way foreign and security policy is made, and the security/strategic culture of small states. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of international relations, security studies, EU studies, area studies and politics.

This book raises the question of the long-term security of the small state. It asks specifically how that quandary manifests itself in Europe after 1989. The overall argument is that small states are becoming increasingly prominent - to some extent also problematic - actors in post-Cold War Europe politics. This is partly a consequence of the diminished ambition, even bordering on reluctance, of great powers to assert their will. Partly it is the consequence of a confluence of other factors: there used to be a loose, tacit consensus on the respective roles of great powers and smaller states. That is no longer so. The transition from an actively supervised bipolar system to a nearly non-polar international system has been a slippery slope. It is as yet far from clear what the final outcome will be. The collapse of Yugoslavia and of the Soviet Union demonstrate the intractability of issues involving small states, in particular as those issues concern secession, independence and physical survival. The experience of the states liberated by the dissolution of communist power in Eastern Europe also demonstrates the hard lessons of survivability in economic terms. Indeed, the irony is that the answer to both the security problem and the economic dependence of small states is now widely perceived in these states themselves as being dependent on their participation in integration and at least the partial relinquishing of sovereignty.

A fully documented text which addresses a key issue of EU decision-making which is surfacing again in proposed institutional reforms. It looks at the role of smaller states, deals with the important criteria of distribution and redistribution of EU budgetary expenditures in the key areas of agriculture and structural funds and explains how smaller states promote their interest more effectively than larger states. It focuses on the administrations of small states, their relations with the Commission and their negotiation tactics in the Council. This is the first attempt to empirically test Peter Katzenstein’s thesis on the role of smaller states in international relations by making important recommendations on how the core assumptions of Katzenstein need to be modified, especially when applied to the EU context. This work is a good supplementary text book for courses on European studies, comparative politics and international relations. It is particularly suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

Since the end of World War II and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States has taken the lead in maintaining European security through its membership in NATO. However, the economic and political positions of both the United States and Europe have changed in the last seventy-five years, leading many to wonder if America is still willing and able to provide for Europe’s security needs, especially at a time when the Russian Federation has become a more aggressive military and political player. Europe Alone explores the prospects of European security in a future when the United States may no longer be a reliable partner. Leading security scholars offer a multifaceted approach to the changing role and meaning of national security into the future. They look at European security issues from the perspective of small states and seek to broaden the concept of security beyond traditional domestic policing or national defense.

How do small states approach their security problems? What types of strategic instruments exist for small states, and when and why are certain strategies chosen rather than others? The security of `weak' states is problematic, demanding trade-offs in the decisions made. Using 19th century Swedish security policy as an example, it is argued here that small states, in their pursuit of security and autonomy, face a dilemma between abandonment and entrapment, leading to a choice between balancing between great powers or making an approach to one of them. This hard choice confronts both non-aligned and allied states. It is also argued that a focus on the images of decision makers is required as a complement to traditional realist theory in order to gain an in-depth understanding of small state security decisions. This book is special in its focus on small, non-aligned states. Most studies on balance-of-power behaviour limit their analysis to alignment decisions. The study also expands the domain of image constructs by introducing perceived regime characteristics into the analysis, besides images of power and intentions. Audience: Scholars and students interested in foreign policy analysis, particularly small-state behaviour. The book points to the importance of beliefs and ideas in security policy.