Historically, the unstated foundations of European security policy, both at the state and the collective level, rested on the Pax Americana – relying on it both as a deterrent and as the ultimate and true guarantor in case of conflict. The result of this reliance was a huge gap between Europe’s security needs and Europe’s “own resources.” Europe’s capacity to use forse, as a last resort, to protect its values, such as preventing the genocide of a religious minority in Bosnia, was shown to be entirely inadequate. The Pax Americana, Professor Weiler will argue, is over. What we are witnessing today is not diminished American engagement (as in the post Vietnam era) but a diminishment of American “global authority” in both containing and restraining threats. There are also doubts – real or illusory – about American credibility as an ultimate guarantor. The current security situation, is not unlike the period before the First World War, Weiler will argue, and Europe is sleepwalking again. |
