U.S. security interests in Europe : hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, first session, June 20, 2001.

This book shows how France and Britain are leaders in EU security and defense policy, and explains why both states need each other in this policy area. The lack of relevant military capacity in Europe today implies that the US favors a strong EU in this field.

This essay represents a synthesis of nearly 7 months' study of U.S. and European security issues at the National War College. It results from insights gained through readings, seminars, lectures, and meetings with top U.S. and foreign civilian and military policy makers and national security specialists. The essay will examine U.S. security interests in Europe, European views of its own and U.S. security interests, and potential arrangements for securing those interests. Competition in responding fully to the challenges of a redefined strategy toward Europe will come not only from other deserving geographic regions, but from the perennial American penchant to reduce foreign entanglements, and increasingly from preoccupation with resolving domestic economic and budgetary problems. If, as this essay suggests, the Atlantic Alliance (NATO) is at risk of being marginalized by other European-only security frameworks whose form and substance are only beginning to take shape, and whose definition is by no means assured, the need arises to provide other mechanisms for ensuring full expression of U.S. interests in Europe. Against this backdrop, this examination of U.S.-European security interests will be conducted with a critical eye toward the potential for intensifying U.S.-German relations -- a strategic partnership with arguably the new center of gravity in Europe. The author is particularly indebted to Colonel Eckart Fischer, Federal Republic of Germany Army, and adjunct Instructor at the National War College, both for his insights on German views of post-Cold War European security arrangements as provided through his advanced regional studies course on Germany, and for providing meaningful access to senior German and other European diplomatic and military officials. Their candid discussions were invaluable in determining trends and tendencies in U.S.-European security relations.

The emergence of the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) in the last two-thirds of the 1990s and continuing into the new century, has been a complex process intertwining politics, economics, national cultures, and numerous institutions. This book provides an essential background for understanding how security issues as between NATO and the European Union are being posed for the early part of the 21st century, including the new circumstances following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. This study should be of interest to those interested in the evolution of U.S.-European relations, especially in, but not limited to, the security field; the development of institutional relationships; and key choices that lie ahead in regard to these critical arrangements.