Heritage Foundation: European Security and Defense Policy Undermines NATO

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative research and educational institute based in Washington, D.C., has released a new backgrounder on the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). Backgrounder Number 2053, authored by Ms. Sally McNamara, is officially titled "The European Security and Defense Policy: A Challenge to the Transatlantic Security Alliance."

Citing security threats from transnational terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and unstable or failed states, Ms. McNamara says it is imperative that European nations figure out the best way to deal with these threats. The European Security and Defense Policy, she argues, "...would fundamentally undermine the NATO alliance and the Anglo-American Special Relationship."

Ms. McNamara says in the report that the ESDP has been organized to be separate from NATO in order to allow the projection of European power and to establish the European Union as a global player, which in turn would serve to counter American power. Instead of forming a separate capability, the backgrounder says, the European Union should work to address security issues shared with NATO and the United States. Additionally, central and eastern European nations fear the ESDP could prompt the United States to draw down its commitments in Europe.

In discussing the Anglo-American Special Relationship, the backgrounder says, "The biggest damage will be done to Britain's enduring alliance with the United States." The reason for this is that British commitments to the European Union will undermine British commitments to the United States and NATO.

While granting that the ESDP has achieved some level of success in the operations it has undertaken, the backgrounder warns that "The sheer lack of EU commitment to facing today's most serious foreign policy challenges, such as Iraq and Iran, demonstrates not only the ESDP's limitations, but, more important, the EU's profoundly different global outlook." The author notes that NATO is in need of reform, but argues that the ESDP is not the answer.

The backgrounder offers a list of suggestions for the United States and Britain, including the maintenance of NATO's primacy, reaffirming the commitments of NATO members, the strengthening of U.S. and NATO ties with European allies, the reservation of NATO resources for NATO missions, and the British withdrawal from the ESDP.

In conclusion, the backgrounder argues that shared security threats should be met by developing European capabilities that complement NATO instead of by the creation of distinct military organizations that would compete with NATO.

Source: Heritage Foundation Backgrounder Number 2053