Can Russia, the European Union and the three major EU member states adopt a unified policy line in the global arena? Charlotte Wagnsson investigates the cohesiveness of ‘greater Europe’ through the detailed scrutiny of policy statements by the leadership elites in the UK, France, Germany, Russia and the EU in connection with three defining events in international security: the crisis in Kosovo of 1999; the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the Iraq crisis of 2003. This extensive empirical enquiry results in a critical constructivist response to neorealist understandings of European security.

The book contrasts the EU’s new way of ‘doing security’ with the established, competitive bilateral interplay in the European security sphere and provides a clue to the kind of security politics that will prevail in Europe. It considers the extent to which the major European players pursue similar objectives, and assesses the possible implications for, and the chances of, greater Europe emerging as a cohesive global actor.