Table of Contents
Acknowledgements xi
List of Tables xii
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
Section I Context: The Case for Convergence 7
Chapter 1 Europe's Partial and Selective Emulation of the US-led Revolution in Military Affairs 9
Patterns of convergence and divergence in defence reform: The objectives, instruments, institutional forums and temporality of defence policy 9
US defence policy in the post-Cold War era: 'Revolution', 'transformation' and 'second-order' change 10
The revolution in military affairs: Extending the 'uni-polar moment' 10
US military 'transformation' as second-order change 12
The three pillars of US 'transformation': Modularity, network centric warfare and effects based operations 16
The legacy of 'second-order' change: Forces designed for the 'wrong kind of war'? 18
Attaining 'balance'? The decline of EBO and the inception of third-order change 21
Reforms to the instruments and objectives of European great powers' defence policies: A partial and selective emulation of the RMA 28
UK defence reform: 'Third-order' change 28
French defence reform: 'Third-order' change 37
German defence reform: 'Second-order' change 47
Chapter 2 Convergence and Divergence in the Institutional Forums of Defence Policy: Functional Complementarity; Spatial and Temporal Differentiation 60
The dimensions of differentiation in European defence cooperation: Function, space and time 60
Functional, spatial and temporal complementarity and differentiation in the institutional architecture of European security 62
The case for differentiation: Duplication in function? 62
European capability initiatives: Reflecting convergence around a partial and selective emulation of the US-led RMA 67
ESDP capability procurement initiatives: From civilian crisis-management to facilitating full spectrum peace enforcement operations through C4ISR 67
NATO capability procurement initiatives: Augmenting C4ISR capabilities and interoperability 71
Defence procurement initiatives outside NATO and EU frameworks: A la carte, multiple speed and variable geometry cooperation 75
'A la carte' force generation initiatives outside NATO/EU frameworks 81
Summary: A selective and delayed emulation of the revolution in military affairs 83
Divergence in temporality: The temporal location sequencing and pace of reform 90
Section II Theorising Defence Policy Convergence 93
Chapter 3 Competing Theoretical Frameworks: Realist and Cultural Approaches 95
Neorealism and convergence: Anarchy, uncertainty and the 'push and shove' of international structure 95
Neorealism and the formation and maintenance of alliances: Explaining functional complementarity in institutional forums 100
Post-cold war Europe: Balanced multipolarity under the offshore balancer 101
European security and defence cooperation as 'reformed bandwagoning' 102
Neorealism and the sources of military emulation and innovation: Clustered convergence in military structures and capabilities 106
The pace of 'clustered convergence': Resource constraints, strategic learning and alliance options 108
The temporality of reform to the objectives and instruments of defence policy: Variance in external vulnerability 111
The temporality and territoriality of European defence cooperation: Variance in external vulnerability and the alliance security dilemma 116
Neorealism: An insufficient account of temporal divergence 119
Neoclassical realism and variable state power: The domestic sources of temporal divergence 120
The competing theoretical approach: Culture and military reform 127
Strategic culture and path dependency 127
Explaining policy change: Critical junctures, policy learning and normative entrepreneurship 128
Section III Testing Cultural and Realist Approaches: Defence Policies Between International Structure and Executive Autonomy 133
Chapter 4 France: Domestic Incentives and Timely Adaptation to Systemic Imperatives 135
Cohabitation and the pace of third-order reform 135
The emergence of 'best practice': Operational experience and the triumph of the French RMA school 141
The resonance of past doctrinal developments with contemporary challenges 150
Managing military input into defence planning: Ensuring adaptability at the tactical and operational levels 153
High executive autonomy and strong civilian control over capability acquisition 158
France, ESDP and NATO: The selective use of Gaullism to frame reformed bandwagoning 159
Chapter 5 Germany: Domestic Constraint and the Temporal Management of Reform 163
The selective use of 'culture' by the core executive: Framing radical change to policy objectives and stasis to policy instruments 165
The development of NetOpFü and the struggle to prepare for irregular warfare 173
Managing military input into defence planning: Increasing adaptability at the tactical and operational levels 182
Low executive autonomy and the exacerbation of organisational politics in capability acquisition 189
The institutional forums of German defence policy: Between systemic and domestic incentives 191
Travelling the road to convergence: Continued deficiencies in capabilities and doctrine 194
Chapter 6 The United Kingdom - From Strategic Innovation to Stasis 197
The strategic defence review: Brokerage to facilitate strategic innovation 198
Adding flesh to the bones of the SDR: The emergence of NEC, EBAO and the comprehensive approach 200
The resonance of past approaches with contemporary challenges 206
Growing contestation on the precise implications of a balanced force for capability acquisition 212
Managing military input into defence planning: Ensuring adaptability at the tactical and operational levels 214
Low executive autonomy and the temporal management of defence reform during the third term of the Labour government 217
The institutional forums of British defence policy: Reflecting systemic imperatives 223
British security culture: A readily deployable instrument 225
Chapter 7 Conclusions: The Empirical and Theoretical Implications 231
Neoclassical realism and defence reform: Matter over mind 231
Planning for the unexpected: The imperative of the balanced force in the post-Cold War era 234
Managing uncertainty and organisational politics: Organising military input to defence planning 236
The contradictory imperatives of structural realism and European defence cooperation 238
The invocation of culture, nationalism, ideology and exploitation of public vulnerability on behalf of internal and external balancing 240
The limitations of the book and the avenues for future research 243
Notes 244
Bibliography 287
Index 315
