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Journal of Conflict Resolution
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0022002709339362v1
53/5/727    most recent
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Still Not Pushing Back

Why the European Union Is Not Balancing the United States

Jolyon Howorth

Political Science Yale University, New Haven

Anand Menon

The European Research Institute University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

A recent wave of scholarly literature has argued forcibly that the European Union’s European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) represents an attempt on the part of the EU to "balance" against the United States. According to such analyses, the EU is reacting to American global preeminence by building up its military capacities to enhance its own ability to play a significant, autonomous role in international affairs. This article takes issue with such claims. It points, first, to significant theoretical and methodological shortcomings inherent in the work of the "soft balancers." Second, and more fundamentally, it subjects this work to careful empirical scrutiny and illustrates how the soft balancers have fundamentally misunderstood ESDP. Finally, it illustrates how such misinterpretations result from a failure to appreciate the profound impact that institutional structures wield over substantive outcomes in international security affairs.

Key Words: transatlantic relations • balancing • European Union • ESDP.

This version was published on October 1, 2009

Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 53, No. 5, 727-744 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0022002709339362
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