Coalitions of the Able: The Pooling of Military Capacity in the ESDP

Abstract

In this chapter we investigate how important the military need for multinationality is in Europe. The objective is to assess how the need for cooperative and even integrative arrangements impacts on the freedom of states. Throughout this book we have argued that two factors are parameters for the ESDP: military capacities and political legitimacy. The state that commands the most military capacity as well as strength in terms of the FPP has greater freedom in its dealings with the ESDP. Such a state does not incur the dependencies that smaller and weaker states do. In our analysis, we have seen that France and Britain are both global military players and strong states in security and defence policy, whereas Germany is extremely handicapped by its domestic politics.