Neoclassical Realism and Defence Reform in Post-Cold War Europe

349 Pages·2010·1.645 MB·English

by  Tom Dyson (auth.)

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Titles include:
Jon Coaffee, David Murakami Wood and Peter Rogers
THE EVERYDAY RESILIENCE OF THE CITY
How Cities Respond to Terrorism and Disaster
Tom Dyson
NEOCLASSICAL REALISM AND DEFENCE REFORM IN POST-COLD WAR EUROPE
Christopher Farrington (editor)
GLOBAL CHANGE, CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE
PROCESS
Implementing the Political Settlement
Kevin Gillan, Jenny Pickerill and Frank Webster
ANTI-WAR ACTIVISM
New Media and Protest in the Information Age
Andrew Hill
RE-IMAGINING THE WAR ON TERROR
Seeing, Waiting, Travelling
Andrew Hoskins and Ben O’Loughlin
TELEVISION AND TERROR
Conflicting Times and the Crisis of News Discourse
Bryan Mabee
THE GLOBALIZATION OF SECURITY
State Power, Security Provision and Legitimacy
Janne Haaland Matlary
EUROPEAN UNION SECURITY DYNAMICS
In the New National Interest
Michael Pugh, Neil Cooper and Mandy Turner (editors)
CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PEACEBUILDING
Brian Rappert and Chandré Gould (editors)
BIOSECURITY
Origins, Transformations and Practices
Brian Rappert
BIOTECHNOLOGY, SECURITY AND THE SEARCH FOR LIMITS
An Inquiry into Research and Methods
Brian Rappert (editor)
TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY
Governing Threats in the New Millennium
Lisa Watanabe
SECURING EUROPE
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Neoclassical Realism and
Defence Reform in
Post-Cold War Europe
Tom Dyson
Lecturer in International Security, Department of Political, International, and Policy
Studies, University of Surrey, UK, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research
Fellow, International Security Research Division, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik,
Berlin, Germany
©Tom Dyson 2010
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-24623-2
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First published 2010 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-31935-0 ISBN 978-0-230-28329-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230283299
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Dedication……
To my father, Kenneth, with love and gratitude
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Contents
Acknowledgements xi
List of Tables xii
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
Section I Context: The Case for Convergence 7
Chapter 1 Europe’s Partial and Selective Emulation of the 9
US-led Revolution in Military Affairs
Patterns of convergence and divergence in defence reform: 9
The objectives, instruments, institutional forums and
temporality of defence policy
US defence policy in the post-Cold War era: ‘Revolution’, 10
‘transformation’ and ‘second-order’ change
The revolution in military affairs: Extending the ‘uni-polar 10
moment’
US military ‘transformation’ as second-order change 12
The three pillars of US ‘transformation’: Modularity, 16
network centric warfare and effects based operations
The legacy of ‘second-order’ change: Forces designed for 18
the ‘wrong kind of war’?
Attaining ‘balance’? The decline of EBO and the inception 21
of third-order change
Reforms to the instruments and objectives of European great 28
powers’ defence policies: A partial and selective emulation of
the RMA
UK defence reform: ‘Third-order’ change 28
French defence reform: ‘Third-order’ change 37
German defence reform: ‘Second-order’ change 47
Chapter 2 Convergence and Divergence in the Institutional 60
Forums of Defence Policy: Functional Complementarity;
Spatial and Temporal Differentiation
The dimensions of differentiation in European defence 60
cooperation: Function, space and time
vii
viii Contents
Functional, spatial and temporal complementarity and 62
differentiation in the institutional architecture of European
security
The case for differentiation: Duplication in function? 62
European capability initiatives: Reflecting convergence 67
around a partial and selective emulation of the
US-led RMA
ESDP capability procurement initiatives: From civilian 67
crisis-management to facilitating full spectrum peace
enforcement operations through C4ISR
NATO capability procurement initiatives: Augmenting 71
C4ISR capabilities and interoperability
Defence procurement initiatives outside NATO and EU 75
frameworks: A la carte, multiple speed and variable
geometry cooperation
‘A la carte’ force generation initiatives outside NATO/EU 81
frameworks
Summary: A selective and delayed emulation of the revolution 83
in military affairs
Divergence in temporality: The temporal location, 90
sequencing and pace of reform
Section II Theorising Defence Policy Convergence 93
Chapter 3 Competing Theoretical Frameworks: Realist and 95
Cultural Approaches
Neorealism and convergence: Anarchy, uncertainty and the 95
‘push and shove’ of international structure
Neorealism and the formation and maintenance of alliances: 100
Explaining functional complementarity in institutional
forums
Post-cold war Europe: Balanced multipolarity under the 101
offshore balancer
European security and defence cooperation as ‘reformed 102
bandwagoning’
Neorealism and the sources of military emulation and innovation: 106
Clustered convergence in military structures and capabilities
The pace of ‘clustered convergence’: Resource constraints, 108
strategic learning and alliance options
The temporality of reform to the objectives and 111
instruments of defence policy: Variance in external
vulnerability
Contents ix
The temporality and territoriality of European defence 116
cooperation: Variance in external vulnerability and the
alliance security dilemma
Neorealism: An insufficient account of temporal 119
divergence
Neoclassical realism and variable state power: The domestic 120
sources of temporal divergence
The competing theoretical approach: Culture and military 127
reform
Strategic culture and path dependency 127
Explaining policy change: Critical junctures, policy 128
learning and normative entrepreneurship
Section III Testing Cultural and Realist Approaches: 133
Defence Policies Between International
Structure and Executive Autonomy
Chapter 4 France: Domestic Incentives and Timely Adaptation 135
to Systemic Imperatives
Cohabitation and the pace of third-order reform 135
The emergence of ‘best practice’: Operational experience and 141
the triumph of the French RMA school
The resonance of past doctrinal developments with 150
contemporary challenges
Managing military input into defence planning: Ensuring 153
adaptability at the tactical and operational levels
High executive autonomy and strong civilian control 158
over capability acquisition
France, ESDP and NATO: The selective use of Gaullism to 159
frame reformed bandwagoning
Chapter 5 Germany: Domestic Constraint and the Temporal 163
Management of Reform
The selective use of ‘culture’ by the core executive: Framing 165
radical change to policy objectives and stasis to policy
instruments
The development of NetOpFü and the struggle to prepare for 173
irregular warfare
Managing military input into defence planning: Increasing 182
adaptability at the tactical and operational levels
Low executive autonomy and the exacerbation of 189
organisational politics in capability acquisition
The institutional forums of German defence policy: Between 191
systemic and domestic incentives