NATO and EU - A Tarzan Jane Relationship?

New article suggests that the roles of NATO and EU are not completely as we might expect

In a new article published in Perspectives on European Politics and Society (vol 12(3), 263-282), Trine Flockhart questions assumptions characterizing NATO as focused on ‘hard security’ and the EU as focused on ‘soft security’. By asking how identities and narratives have been constructed in both organizations, subtle differences are brought to light, indicating that changes have taken place in the self-conception and narrative of the two organizations resulting in different conceptions of role and identity. The article suggests that identity and narrative constructions are influenced by practical action and that the EU under ESDP/CSDP until 2009 experienced positive action, which left it in a stronger position than NATO on questions of ‘hard security’.

The article draws on recent empirical evidence in which the EU and NATO are often compared in erms of partnerships and operations. The article shows that in the first decade of the twenty-first entury, the EU has been constructing a ‘Tarzan’ narrative, whereas NATO’s negative experience in Afghanistan has driven the organization towards a narrative of avoiding failure, emphasizing a ‘Jane’ narrative about partnerships. The pattern may however now be in the process of changing, as evidenced by NATO’s robust intervention in Libya, and the EU’s preoccupation with establishing the new External Action Service and with the Euro-crisis.

The article can be downloaded here

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