The European Security Continuum : Inside-Out or Outside-In?

This book analyses a major change to the concept of security in Europe -- the blurring of the traditional divide between internal and external security. This is actually a dual blurring of the geographic (domestic-foreign) and bureaucratic (civilian-military) dimensions and has significant implications for security governance in the European Union. With the 2009 Stockholm Programme claiming that `internal and external security are inseparable', this book examines the theoretical and policy-relevant implications of this changing discourse for the conceptualisation of security in Europe, EU security governance and the EU's role in international security. The book is woven together by the overarching theme of the European security continuum; specifically, engaging critically with the claim that security challenges identified by the EU increasingly transcend both geographic and bureaucratic boundaries. Four sub-themes will be used to unpack this central theme: (a) theories and concepts, (b) threats and challenges, (c) institutions and capabilities, and (d) politics and ethics. The central proposition is that the internal-external divide is being undermined by the nature of threats facing Europe, but not all threats blur these boundaries to the same degree. Hence, it is more accurate to conceptualise the challenges as being situated on a security continuum, ranging from `transboundary' threats such as climate change to traditional threats of interstate conflict. However, the EU's ability to engage coherently with the complex challenges on this security continuum is significantly hampered by a final theme: the bureaucratic turf wars and civil-military tensions across its institutions and capabilities and between its member states. The book develops a conceptual framework - the European security continuum - to assess the extent to which the internal-external security divide is being dissolved. This is done through a detailed analysis of four key security issues (regional conflict, transnational organised crime, energy security, and cybersecurity) and an assessment of the practical and normative implications for EU security governance and the consequences for the type of international security actor the EU could and should become. This book will be of much interest to students of European Security, EU politics, and international relations.