Interview with Strategic Outlook

The Interview with Nicholas Wright - Strategic Outlook 19/01/2014 13:41 Sun, 19 Jan 2014 Home Middle East | Turkish Foreign Policy Africa Caucasus Usbed | Experts | About SO | Executive Board | Advisory Board | Collaborating Bodies | Contact Us Asia - Pasific Europe Issues Publications Interviews Videos Ambassador of Ukraine Dr. Sergiy Korsunsky’s Visit THE INTERVIEW WITH NICHOLAS WRIGHT 1. The member states of EU cannot fail to act jointly on military matters. How can you estimate this situation from the perspective of CFSP?? My view of military co-operation within the context of the EU remains pessimistic in terms of long-term co-operation, let alone meaningful integration. That said, I am not sure the EU should be developing a meaningful military capability given what already exists in the form of NATO, and given the EU’s essentially civilian power character. Despite the reasonably positive declaration on CSDP development following the European Council meeting in See all videos December last year, the fact remains that the majority of Member States continue to view defence as less of a priority than other more immediate domestic policy concerns. This is not surprising given the ongoing pressure on national budgets, the need to streamline the provision of services and welfare domestically, etc. At the same time, Find us on Facebook NATO maintains its pre-eminence in terms of Europe’s security architecture and this is unlikely to change any time Strategic Outlook soon. Thus, while the improvement of military capabilities from an EU perspective is certainly important in terms of Like You like this. meeting long-term challenges and threats, in the event of a major crisis demanding a military response, it is NATO that would be the first and most logical place for an institutional response involving European states. The reality is that CSDP continues to be primarily an instrument for civilian crisis management intervention, whatever the hopes You and 7,357 others like Strategic Outlook. may have been in 1998 at St Malo. I think this is very unlikely to change in the short to medium term. One possible driver of change, though, could be British departure from the EU. Unlikely as this may be, it would remove arguably the most important voice in terms of maintaining NATO’s primacy in European security and defence. It is entirely possible that a longer term European response, therefore, could be a shift to more EU-based military and defence integration, beyond the kind of industrial and technological projects developing within the context of the EDA. However, I would say this remains a distant possibility at most in terms of likelihood. 2. Facebook social plugin Some authors estimate the future of Germany as Merkelreich. What do you think about this subject and future of the European Union? As of this moment, Merkel dominates the European political scene and is probably one of the four or five most influential and important world leaders. In part this is because of Germany’s structural position as a major global economy and currently the most influential power within the EU. Equally, however, Mrs Merkel has established Tweet Takip et herself as a safe, competent and trustworthy leader. She avoids grand-standing, and has shown herself to be careful and analytical in dealing with whatever issue confronts her. Certainly among the German Foreign Ministry officials I have spoken to, there is a view of her as someone who is very concerned about the strategic direction of German foreign policy, both within the EU and more broadly, compared to some of her predecessors who may have been more ‘hands-off’ in their approach. For instance, she has been keenly interested in developments in the Strategic Outlook @StrOutlook 17 Ocak Alongside his research work, he teaches courses on Diplomacy and IR, International Organisations and Global... fb.me/2fPuiAfS0 E3+3/Iran nuclear negotiations and in strategic relations with China, for example. This suggests that while the new SPD Foreign Minister, Frank-Walther Steinmeier, may well be in charge of the day-to-day management of foreign policy, it is Mrs Merkel who has the last word in terms of its overall direction. This is underlined by her length of tenure in office, the personal relationships she has developed with key world leaders, and the fact that she has shown herself adept at international negotiations. Similarly, in terms of the EU her position is central, again based on Germany’s structural importance within Europe and in her own lengthy experience as an EU head of Strategic Outlook @StrOutlook 16 Ocak In conclusion, it is worth recalling that less than a month after the completion of Westerwelle's voyage, on the... fb.me/2EAnNr8uX government. I’m not sure if ‘Merkelreich’ is necessarily a useful description, but her importance within the EU today is comparable to that of Chancellor Kohl two decades ago. Germany is key to any resolution of the Eurozone crisis. Mrs Merkel knows this and she has committed Germany to finding a resolution that maintains the European integration project and ensures the EU can occupy a strategically important position in the international Strategic Outlook @StrOutlook 15 Ocak system. results in promoting brand reputation. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one 3. @StrOutlook adlı kişiye Tweetle As a global actor the EU has serious steps about being the normative and civil power. Through the rising powers what could be its inclanation of EU as power?(Hard power or soft power?) Related to my answer to the first question, the EU is a ‘soft power’ in the sense that it rarely resorts to military instruments to pursue policy aims. That said, it is perfectly capable of using the range of financial, economic, trade http://www.strategicoutlook.org/interviews/news-the-interview-with-nicholas-wright.html Page 1 of 3 The Interview with Nicholas Wright - Strategic Outlook 19/01/2014 13:41 and aid instruments at its disposal to achieve ‘hard’ ends – i.e. encourage or persuade outside partners to accept its positions. I think you are likely to see this in the negotiations over a free trade agreement with the United States, for example. Currently – and to (mis)quote Richard Rosecrance – the EU has no natural enemies. It does not use power in the same way as Russia, the US or China could be said to use power. Thus, and despite its economic travails, it remains a desirable partner for trade and investment, and represents a standard of democracy, human rights and civil society that, whilst not perfect, can certainly be respected. It remains, in short, an attractive partner. Its weaknesses – which it has sought on a number of occasions to remedy and still not with total success – are an apparent lack of strategic direction in terms of its long-term international priorities and consequently the lack of a clear and unambiguous set of foreign policy goals. But in an organisation of 28 Member States, this is hardly surprising. 4. What is your comment about Turkey’s adventure of EU? Can we think of it as eternal candidate country? My hope is that Turkey will one day become an EU Member States. I think it would be hugely advantageous to both sides in terms of economic development, foreign policy reach and global influence, and cultural impact. My fear is that the right moment will never come, and domestic political and cultural issues within various EU Member States will ultimately frustrate Turkish ambitions. I think this will be an enormous shame and a huge lost opportunity. The longer the process of accession negotiation drags on, however, the more likely it is that Turkey itself will lose interest. And there may come a time when alternative opportunities present themselves to Turkey. I believe that the EU needs Turkey if not yet as much as Turkey needs the EU, then certainly more than its political leaders care to admit. Turkish membership is currently an opportunity the EU seems to be doing its best to lose! 5. During the period of Greece’s EU Presidency, what can you say about Turkey-EU relations? This is a tough question, and I would not claim any expertise in terms of Greek politics, or its relations with Turkey. A certain number of responsibilities come with the EU Presidency that demand that holder looks beyond national issues/interests as far as possible (although these are always there to some extent). Given the immediate priorities on the EU agenda around stimulating meaningful economic growth in the Eurozone, I think any Presidency would have its hands full with this and is unlikely to have a great of time to address other issues. At the same time, the Presidency has been reduced in significance somewhat by the Presidency of the European Council and the the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policies. These ensure that there is, to some extent, continuity and stability in agendas, priorities and positions. In short, and I mean this with no disrespect to Turkey, I suspect Greece will have more pressing priorities during its 6 month Presidency. What might challenge this? Well, there remains huge volatility in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially in Syria and Lebanon, which could yet drag Turkey into a wider conflict to which Europe would have to respond in some way (Turkey is, after all, a key member of NATO.) Equally, there is considerable domestic disquiet within certain sections of the Turkish population which are increasingly frustrated with the Turkish Government. In the event of a significant and heavy-handed official response to any protests, for example, Greece could find itself in the forefront of the EU response to this. Given the long-term character of these domestic political questions in Turkey, though, I am sure that officials in Athens and Brussels have given at least some thought to how any response would be need to be formulated, and particularly to how it would be judged in terms of Turkey’s accession hopes. Who is Nicholas Wright? Nicholas Wright works in the University of East Anglia’s School of Political, Social and International Studies. His PhD focused on how Britain and Germany make and pursue foreign policy objectives within the context of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. This included a detailed examination of the E3+3 negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme and the establishment and development of the European External Action Service. His current research interests focus on the relationship between national foreign policy and multilateral organisations, British Foreign Policy during the New Labour governments (1997-2010) and German foreign policy since unification. Alongside his research work, he teaches courses on Diplomacy and IR, International Organisations and Global Politics at the UEA. He has published on a range of issues including Europeanisation in European foreign policy and the EU’s international actorness, and participated in a number of international conferences. He also blogs for the Huffington Post and runs his own blog - http://yetanotherpoliticsjunkie.wordpress.com. These cover a range of issues, predominantly (but not exclusively) relating to domestic, European and international politics. Şahin Keskin, Analyst, Strategic Outlook Tags : CFSP European Union Germany Britain NATO Merkelreich Turkey Greece 17.1.2014 - Hit : 372 2 http://www.strategicoutlook.org/interviews/news-the-interview-with-nicholas-wright.html Page 2 of 3 The Interview with Nicholas Wright - Strategic Outlook 19/01/2014 13:41 Add a comment... Also post on Facebook Posting as Nicholas Wright (Change) Comment Facebook social plugin All Rights Reserved - 2012 © Strategic Outlook | Editored By ertugruloztarsu http://www.strategicoutlook.org/interviews/news-the-interview-with-nicholas-wright.html Page 3 of 3