Is a European Military a Real Possibility?
Alexander Ivanov
INTL 2700
Oreste Foppiani
Is a European Union military a real possibility?
Before beginning an argument like this, certain parameters have to be established.
Definitions have to be given and set, and the scope of the investigation has to be fixed. The most important parameter, one that will echo throughout the paper, is the definition of a military. A military is a rather broad term, if explored in detail, but Wikipedia gives a surprisingly concise definition of it – “a military is an organisation authorised by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats.”
Therefore, before even beginning to answer the research question, one must first determine, according to differing sets of parameters, whether the European Union already has a military, and can it even have a military by definition.
The parameters mentioned above are as follows: the term and concept of “military” has both changed over the years has at the same time stayed the same. With the advent of modern warfare, both as contemporary post-WWI conflicts and twenty-first century wars, the military has changed tremendously. It has, however, persevered in retaining a largely same role as it always has – the one outlined in the definition above. The real difference, then, lays not so much in the definition of a military but rather the various elaborations on the definition, as well as all the terms involved in it, such as “real threat” and “perceived threat”.
The scope of the investigation would have to cover not only the hypothetical and legal side of the question, but also what is already in place and how does it influence the hypothetical future.
An examination of what already exists on this subject in the EU, both on paper and in reality, will shed light on how best to answer the research question or even on how to rephrase it.
Without further ado, it is best to begin by
INTL 2700
Oreste Foppiani
Is a European Union military a real possibility?
Before beginning an argument like this, certain parameters have to be established.
Definitions have to be given and set, and the scope of the investigation has to be fixed. The most important parameter, one that will echo throughout the paper, is the definition of a military. A military is a rather broad term, if explored in detail, but Wikipedia gives a surprisingly concise definition of it – “a military is an organisation authorised by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats.”
Therefore, before even beginning to answer the research question, one must first determine, according to differing sets of parameters, whether the European Union already has a military, and can it even have a military by definition.
The parameters mentioned above are as follows: the term and concept of “military” has both changed over the years has at the same time stayed the same. With the advent of modern warfare, both as contemporary post-WWI conflicts and twenty-first century wars, the military has changed tremendously. It has, however, persevered in retaining a largely same role as it always has – the one outlined in the definition above. The real difference, then, lays not so much in the definition of a military but rather the various elaborations on the definition, as well as all the terms involved in it, such as “real threat” and “perceived threat”.
The scope of the investigation would have to cover not only the hypothetical and legal side of the question, but also what is already in place and how does it influence the hypothetical future.
An examination of what already exists on this subject in the EU, both on paper and in reality, will shed light on how best to answer the research question or even on how to rephrase it.
Without further ado, it is best to begin by
Bibliography: Council of the European Union, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. Martins, Bruno Oliviera, and Laura C. Ferreira-Periera. "Stepping Inside? CSDP Missions and EU Counter-terrorism." European Security 21.4 (2012): 537-56 Strategic Culture Research for the European Union’s Evolution as a Military Power1." International Studies Quarterly 55.3 (2011): 669-90 OPERATIONS." Revista Academiei Fortelor Terestre 14.4 (2009): 32-38. Print.