| The establishment of a European Union security arm in 1991 and the development of common foreign and defense policies have triggered a heated debate about the degree of security cooperation and the future of Europe. For some, European security cooperation has been more talk than action, and the disagreement among some European countries about the 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq is incontrovertible evidence. For others, European cooperation is leading to the creation of a global economic, military, and political power. In light of this debate, three sets of questions lie at the heart of this study. (1) Has there been substantial security cooperation among EU states in the post-Cold War era? (2) If so, why? Why has there been significant cooperation since the end of the Cold War, and why was there little security cooperation during the Cold War? (3) What are the future prospects for security cooperation among EU states?; The core argument is that substantial security cooperation among EU states has occurred in the post-Cold War era because of the changing structure of the regional and international systems. The EU's major powers have been motivated to pursue long-term peace in the region in response to German reunification and the withdrawal of U.S. forces, as well as to balance the United States in a unipolar international system. The likely result will be increasing friction between the United States and Europe in the future.; In order to test this argument, I parsed the dependent variable (security cooperation) into four categories: security institutions, economic sanctions, defense production, and military forces. These four categories were chosen because they represent a cross-section of areas in the security realm. The category of security institutions includes the creation of a European security institution. Economic sanctions cover the coordinated use of sanctions for foreign policy goals, such as ending civil wars or establishing democracy. Defense production encompasses collaboration in the arms industry, especially through mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and coproduction and codevelopment projects. Finally, the category of military forces includes the establishment and use of joint combat forces. |
