Criticisms of Western European Reluctance in the 2004 Iraq War

Many of the US criticisms of Western European reluctance to engage in the 2004 war in Iraq stem from a perception that these governments are weak on defence or unwilling to pull their own weight in the international system. Secretary Rumsfeld pejoratively designated traditional Atlantic Alliance allies as Old Europe, to distinguish them from the freshly minted, cooperative states of New Europe.

In doing so, Rumsfeld accused Old Europe of yet again relying on the United States to solve shared security problems. This volume critically evaluates the validity of this view of Western European choices and policies.

Rather than a primary reliance on military force as first line defence, it proposes that Western European governments are expanding the set of tools they have to apply to the post-Cold War array of security and defence problems. The volume examines the emergent European security approach from multiple perspectives, in multiple institutions and identities, and in different geographic contexts.