Will the EU become a military power? Current structure and trends in security and defence

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: 1,0, University of Leipzig, language: English, abstract: The European Union is the institutionalized result of an ongoing process of cooperation between European nation states that started as consequence of the Second World War. It is a unique kind of supranational cooperation, a 'sui generis' in international politics, and evolved in incremental steps, which are unforeseeable and therefore hard to theorise. This essay aims to answer the question if the EU will become a military power. In order to forecast a possible future scenario, we must take into account historical events and decisions that shaped the current structure of the EU, especially in regards to security and defence. We must also consider wider developments and trends, and identify what has prevented the EU evolving into a military power so far. Afterwards, the essay will outline recent events and decisions in security and defence field. Based on these facts, the assessment about the EU as military power can be made.