The USA and EU integration in security and defence

Abstract

Since the early years following WWII, the US has played a vital role in the EU’s security and defence. With the end of the Cold War, the US foreign policy developed beyond the old continent and calls for Europe to develop its security and defence grew. Different administrations’ foreign policies naturally differed, and with it so did these calls. The Obama and Trump administrations are two such recent administrations that have presented these calls in a contrasting tone mirroring their foreign policy. This dissertation, using a longitudinal research design and a mixed method approach, investigates the EU’s security and defence developments during the two presidents’ terms. This was done as to highlight the various levels of integration and strategic autonomy the EU sought during the two periods. The results find significant differences within these two periods, where during the years Trump served as president the EU put forward security and defence developments at a rate 7 times higher than it did during the years Obama served as president. This suggests that the EU was seeking stronger integration during the period Trump served as president. It was also observed that the EU was seeking different types of strategic autonomy during the two periods. During the eight-year period Obama served as president the EU was seeking to develop its responsibilities within NATO, whilst during the four years that follow the EU made strong steps towards preparing its strategic autonomy to withstand possible US disengagement.