Description
This contribution analyses the UK’s security bilateralism between 2016-22, when bilateral security and defence agreements were signed with 18 EU countries. To make sense of this strategy, the article questions whether the conclusion of so many agreements is a way to compensate for the absence of a separate EU-UK security treaty or a means to build leverage for UK interests. A comparison of the scope and content of the new bilateralism shows that, even under Boris Johnson, bilateralism is designed to fill Brexit-related gaps in consultation, coordination, and capability-building. Drawing on regime theory, the contribution further demonstrates the fragility of relying on bilateralism to replace multilateralism, in that increased flexibility is offset by the fact implementation relies on soft law mechanisms. The result is that the UK’s new bilateral regime may not be self-sustaining, although it does leave space for a multilateral initiative such as the European Political Community.
