European Security : The Defining Debates

When the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989, euphoria swept across Europe.

It was widely believed that Europe's security problems had at last been overcome.

This proved to be wishful thinking. Since 1989, Europe has had to contend with three main security problems and three corresponding security debates: one over the role Europe's security organizations should play in the new era, one over the proper response to slaughter in the Balkans, and one over NATO and EU enlargement.

In this text, Michael Brown provides a detailed analysis of Europe's post-Cold War security problems and an assessment of its future.

Challenging the conventional wisdom that NATO expansion should proceed quickly and EU expansion more slowly, he contends that European security would benefit from new debates on NATO's mission for courses on European affairs and on international relations, and should be of use to policymakers in the United States and Europe.