The European Security and Defense Policy : NATO's companion - or competitor?

The European Union's new European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) is a major step toward full European integration, in parallel with progress toward a Common Foreign and Security Policy. The United States supports ESDP-but on the basis that it is created within NATO, separable but not separate from the Alliance, and drawing mainly on NATO's military assets. This book tells the story of ESDP's relationship to NATO-and what must be done to ensure that the storehouse of European security is increased and transatlantic cohesion is preserved.
The emergence of the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) in the last two-thirds of the 1990s and continuing into the new century, has been a complex process intertwining politics, economics, national cultures, and numerous institutions. This book provides an essential background for understanding how security issues as between NATO and the European Union are being posed for the early part of the 21st century, including the new circumstances following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. This study should be of interest to those interested in the evolution of U.S.-European relations, especially in, but not limited to, the security field; the development of institutional relationships; and key choices that lie ahead in regard to these critical arrangements.