Security in Transition : Towards a New Paradigm for the European Union

The long-dominant security paradigm in Europe, aimed primarily at inter-state conflict, has faded away in recent years. No conceptual framework or single pattern of cooperation has emerged to take its place; no shared sense of commitment and confidence in common solutions can be found. The resulting uncertainty has not, however, stopped the European Union from adopting new policies, instruments, and capacities related to securing people and key infrastructures across the European continent. In effect, the Union's security identity is undergoing transformation in the absence of a guiding paradigm. This fourth report in the programme on "Creating Crisis Management Capacity for a Secure European Union" explores how Europe can organize a transnational response that prepares for and deals with transboundary crises. After examining the Union's current "muddle" in security matters, from sectoral fragmentation, loose networks, and multiple security venues to widely diverging approaches to cooperation, the authors highlight the patterns that may give rise to a new security paradigm for the twenty-first century. They also set out a research agenda that may benefit paradigm change and institutional design supporting that cause. For more information, see www.fhs.se/eurosec. Find previous reports in the SNDC book series (Acta B35, B36 and B 38), see www.fhs.se, internetbokhandeln. Libris URL: http://libris.kb.se/bib/10908126