Trapped in the grey zone: NATO-CSDP relations in a new era of European security governance

Journal article : Review

This paper critically examines the complementarity of NATO and the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), proposing a reassessment of their roles to explore potential reforms. It contributes to the forum on “Organising European Security” by tracing the historical origins of issues, such as “consensus escapism”, that challenge European security governance. In addressing this issue, the paper explores three scenarios for institutional reform: abolishing the CSDP, integrating it into NATO, or pursuing European strategic autonomy. The analysis shows that while such reforms could reduce strategic ambiguities, they might also undermine crucial community maintenance functions, especially those fulfilled by the CSDP for the EU. Following the Ukraine invasion, the structural parameters of NATO/CSDP relations have remained largely unchanged; however, the analysis indicates an emerging dynamic of a “compartmentalised geographic approach” to strengthening European security. This approach, while not eliminating NATO-CSDP ambiguities, may allow for a viable balance of community maintenance and power projection in a changing security landscape.

Authors: Helferich, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Journal: International Politics
• Volume: 62
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1070-1083
• Publication date: 2024-12-03
• Acceptance date: 2024-11-18
• DOI: 10.1057/s41311-024-00647-9
• EISSN: 1740-3898
• ISSN: 1384-5748
• Language: English
• Keywords: NATO; Ukraine war; European defence; Institutional overlap
• Subtype: Review