Cagri Erhan JTW Columnist printable version send your friend

Sunday, 27 December 2009

Today, 21 of the 28 members of NATO are also members of the EU. Yet, it remains a dream that the EU can plan and make a military operation from ‘A’ to ‘Z’ in any part of the world without using the infrastructure, facilities, capabilities, and capacity of the strategic transportation of NATO.

With the elimination of problems considering the Lisbon Treaty coming into force, the EU is being more active in security and defense issues compared to the past agenda it would undertake and they are discussed more and more. At first sight, it can be thought of as natural that an organization established by 27 European countries would become an important power in security and defense just as it is in economic and political aspects. Yet, it is not that simple. The inclination of the EU to work more actively on military issues, slowly creates an apparent serious tension with NATO, which has been the main organ of security provision in the European and Atlantic region since 1949.

A MILITARY DWARF

Today, the 21 of the 28 members of NATO are also the members of the EU. Theoretically, it increases the power of the EU in NATO’s decision making mechanisms and operations. I say theoretically because in practice, the defense share reserved from the general budget and qualitative/quantitative military structures of them display that the EU countries are not sufficient enough for the defense of the European continent. For now, it is a weak possibility that the EU countries can do more other than make some civil operations and police facilities in their near abroad without the military contribution of countries like the U.S. and Turkey from NATO. It is just a dream that the EU can plan and make a military operation from ‘A to Z’ in any part of the world without using the infrastructure, facilities, capabilities, and capacity of the strategic transportation of NATO. In other words, even the EU is one of the most important economic giants of the world; it remains a military dwarf.

THE 4 REASONS OF INSISTANCE 

While the current situation is like the above mentioned , it is most likely possible to explain the insistence of the increasing number of statesmen, academicians and opinion leaders saying that “the EU should undertake the security of Europe” with 4 reasons:

First, the Europeans think that the political integration of the EU is only possible with the realization of a military integration. In the medium term, the EU, which aims to become an international law subject, should become a union of countries having noncontroversial foreign policies and working in harmony in defense issues to create a supranational integration to the full extent as it has never been witnessed in history till now. Here, pursuant to this goal, they are trying to promote more coordination in military aspects without the contributions of the U.S. and generally NATO. They calculate that a stronger cooperation in the military area will make it easier to complete the political integration.

THE UNILATERAL U.S. POLICY

Second, the unilateral military policies of the U.S., especially during the George Bush period, disconcerts most of the Europeans. The anti-U.S. thoughts that emerged with the attack on Iraq in 2003, has not subdued despite the 6 years that have passed and Barack Obama’s emphasis on “multilateralism” after his inauguration. The EU considers itself capable of averting the threats posed against it with the use of “soft power” more sufficiently, rather than the use of conventional military power like the U.S. The necessity of drying the marsh in order to be able to deal with mosquitoes lies at the heart of the EU security strategy. Of course, the size of the financial means necessary to dry the marsh makes the possibility of success for the EU strategy open to question. Yet, the EU governments, which have to take the existing anti-U.S. public opinion into consideration, feel attracted to a brand new European security model which will minimize U.S. intervention.

The third issue involves the pressure of the defense industrial corporations. It is enough to take a look at the influence of the military industrial complexes on internal and foreign policies of the U.S. in order to understand the power of the defense industry as one of the most important driving forces of modern economies. The U.S. defense industrial corporations are the main suppliers of weapons and equipment for NATO, so the NATO members’ armies starting from its establishment. However, some of the defense industrial corporations in Europe have broken through in the last 20 years as well. These corporations intend to eliminate the monopoly of their American rivals on defense purchases of European armies through NATO. Yet, they are aware that this is possible only with the emergence of a new structure in which the EU will be able to deal with defense issues without the U.S. Therefore, the emerging military-industrial complex in Europe gradually increases its pressure on European politicians. In parallel, the European defense industrial producers “pump” the idea of “the EU should undertake the security of Europe” through think-tanks and media organs like their American rivals do.

DOES EUROPE BECOME LONELY?

Finally, there is a fear that the U.S. may pull the plug on Europe. Some of the defense experts in EU countries think that the U.S. may retreat to its own continent and return to its isolationist policy as it did before the Second World War because of economic and internal political reasons. Thus, these experts indicate that it is necessary for the EU to increase its defense capacity before the U.S. “leaves”.

When we take all these reasons into consideration, it is unavoidable to think that there may be an increase in the EU countries’ defense facilities apart from NATO. This will create developments that are closely related to Turkey as a country which has the second biggest military power in NATO and is not an EU member. Turkey should be actively involved in the efforts of transforming NATO into a global security organization and make efforts beyond securing the continuance of NATO being the main component of European and Atlantic security.