In the Midst of Change: On the Development of West European Security and Defence Cooperation

Debates about West European security and defence cooperation have been high on the international political agenda since 1990. The reform of NATO after the transformation of East-West relations and unification of Germany, the prominence of the Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) on Political Union leading to the treaty of Maastricht, the assessment of West Europe"s contribution on the Kuwait crisis, and the sanguinary breaking up of Yugoslavia all served to make security and defence cooperation in Western Europe a prominent subject for exhortation or scepticism by politicians and commentators.
On the initiative of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Ebenhausen), seven analysts from five European countries and the United States have founded The European Security Analysis Network (ESAN) for the better understanding and continuous analysis of these developments. It was felt that during a time when multinational cooperation has become an outstanding feature of international affairs, continuous information about the political thinking in the most important capitals has become a prerequisite for a sober analysis of the situation.