Description
This paper analyses the signals from the EU strategic compass, assessing whether this points towards enhanced coherence and capability, and asking ‘Capability to do what?’ The Strategic Compass faces awkward questions: who is involved, what is the new scope of ambition for EU Common Security and Defence Policy, how does it relate to NATO? If the desired outcome is strategic autonomy, does the Strategic Compass bring clarity on whose autonomy, and to what ends? We analyse the extent to which the Strategic Compass may redefine CSDP and whether defence is finally becoming a more significant component within a policy field hitherto reluctant to whisper the D word for fear of upsetting NATO and the more Atlanticist EU member states.
