Willem F. van Eekelen, "International Security - One Paradigm Change after the Other," All Azimuth 1, No.1 (2012): 64-72. (original) (raw)
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The last decade has provided policy-makers, analysts and experts of international and European security and defence with some difficult lessons. The attack on the US in 2001 served as a reminder that even the most powerful state in the international system is not impervious to emerging threats. In its reaction, the US led two military interventions, which still provoke significant debate in Europe and beyond. The enemy has been an amorphous one – global terrorism. However towards the end of the decade the Russian-Georgian war reminded Europeans of the existence of more traditional territorial conflicts and the prominence of Russia in European Security. In this new decade European security and defence is yet again at a crossroads. On the one hand, Bin Laden’s death and the Arab Spring seem to suggest a move towards a world that is becoming a safer and more stable place. On the other hand, the crises in Libya and Syria seem to indicate that the question of military intervention will remain a pressing one. Libya in particular demonstrated that Europe has not developed a common approach to its role as a collective military actor. To complicate things further, European security and defence has faced the pressing needs of unprecedented austerity, as the deep economic crisis has hit many European Union (EU) states hard. The 21st century seems to be witnessing a transformation of the international system. New centres f power are emerging, pushing the system away from a predominantly unipolar period towards a new multipolar phase. This new international order seems to promise increased levels of uncertainty in all spheres, and especially security and defence. Understanding the emerging poles will be a crucial process for Europeans and their allies in order to attain security in this new order. The fifth workshop of the European Security and Defence Forum addressed these crucial issues for Europe and brought together a distinguished array of participants from policy, industry and academia to evaluate the last decade, with a view to better inform and guide future policy. A considerable part of the discussion focused on the lessons that it was felt had not been learnt, some of the recurring themes in European foreign policy including terrorism, power shifts, strategy and Afghanistan. The discussants analysed these in order to put forward proposals geared at maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of interventions, improving counterterrorism strategies, as well as evaluating new strategies for the UK, Europe and its security institutions.
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