PESCO - Farewell to Europe as a civilian power?
Landau Peace Lecture with Jürgen Wagner on May 16, 2018.
On December 11, 2017, the Council of the European Union adopted a decision on the establishment of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in the field of security and defense. According to the official press release, the permanent framework for cooperation is intended to make it easier for participating member states to jointly develop their defense capabilities, invest in joint projects or improve operational readiness and expand the contribution of their armed forces. For many critical observers, this is tantamount to a turning point, which finally heralds a departure from the ideal of Europe as a civilian power in world politics, which is first and foremost oriented towards a policy of preventive diplomacy, forward-looking crisis prevention and the prioritization of strategies and measures for civil conflict management.
Jürgen Wagner is Managing Director of the Tübingen-based Informationsstelle Militarisierung (IMI) e.V. In 2011, IMI was awarded the Aachen Peace Prize for its commitment as a mediator between peace research and the peace movement. Jürgen Wagner has been working on European foreign, security and defense policy for many years. His analyses appear regularly in specialist journals and he is a sought-after expert for the media. The 2nd edition of his latest book "NATO: Aufmarsch gegen Russland oder wie ein kalter Krieg entfacht wird" was published in 2017.
PESCO - Farewell to Europe as a civilian power?
Landau Peace Lecture with Jürgen Wagner on May 16, 2018.
On December 11, 2017, the Council of the European Union adopted a decision on the establishment of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in the field of security and defense. According to the official press release, the permanent framework for cooperation is intended to make it easier for participating member states to jointly develop their defense capabilities, invest in joint projects or improve operational readiness and expand the contribution of their armed forces. For many critical observers, this is tantamount to a turning point, which finally heralds a departure from the ideal of Europe as a civilian power in world politics, which is first and foremost oriented towards a policy of preventive diplomacy, forward-looking crisis prevention and the prioritization of strategies and measures for civil conflict management.
Jürgen Wagner is Managing Director of the Tübingen-based Informationsstelle Militarisierung (IMI) e.V. In 2011, IMI was awarded the Aachen Peace Prize for its commitment as a mediator between peace research and the peace movement. Jürgen Wagner has been working on European foreign, security and defense policy for many years. His analyses appear regularly in specialist journals and he is a sought-after expert for the media. The 2nd edition of his latest book "NATO: Aufmarsch gegen Russland oder wie ein kalter Krieg entfacht wird" was published in 2017.