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When Soft Power Turns Hard: Is an EU Strategic Culture Possible?

Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway; Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Oslo

Posing the question of whether the European Union is likely to develop a strategic culture, this article discusses the concept of human security as the possible basis for a novel type of such a culture. It argues that there are incentives for governments to ‘pool’ sovereignty in the security and defence field on the logic of two-level games, while noting that EU institutions themselves are developing both political and military capacities at present. The sensitive issue of developing a strategic culture for coercive diplomacy and the consequent use of force is not progressing. However, the ideological basis for a post-national strategic culture based on human security provides a window of opportunity for the EU.

Key Words: Strategic culture • human security • EU security policy • post-national foreign policy

Security Dialogue, Vol. 37, No. 1, 105-121 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0967010606064140


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