Product Description

Michael Brenner examines European efforts—and American responses—to reduced defense dependency in a post-Cold War world. Unresolved questions abound: institutional form, political direction, resources, and—above all—uncertainty about the place of the United States in security arrangements for and with a new Europe. As he makes clear, the culture of transatlantic security dependency casts a shadow over the ongoing project of reequilibrating the Euro-American alliance. U.S. prestige and power weigh all the heavier because of American ambivalence in coming to terms with its allies' ambitions.

Agreeing on a conception of European Security and Defense Identity and measures to implement it has three requirements: clarifying a security agenda dominated by political goals; candid dialogue on the apprehensions the transatlantic partners have about each other; and dedication to perfecting multilateralism as the standard behavioral code for a more egalitarian alliance. Giving life to ESDI unavoidably will generate tensions and amplify a European voice that at times will grate on Washington's ears. However, as Brenner asserts, making multilateralism work is the best way to ensure that those negatives are outweighed by the value ESDI has for advancing U.S. as well as European interests. This is must reading for scholars, students, and policy makers involved with European security and international relations issues.

Product Details

• Published on: 1998-10-28
• Released on: 1998-10-28
• Format: Kindle eBook
• Number of items: 1

Review
"Professor Brenner is one of the most attentive and thoughtful experts on European security affairs in the United States. Terms of Engagement provides a thorough and balanced description of this remarkably complex subject. This is academic research at its best: Brenner's judgments are fair, and he never lets his personal viewpoint interfere with his assessment of facts. Conflicting positions and accounts are presented in a remarkably balanced manner: this is current history written with the detachment and fairness normally associated with traditional historical studies."-Guillaume Parmentier Professor, University of Paris-II Director of Studies and Research Foundation pour les Etudes de Defense (FED)