Ireland, neutrality and European security integration

Book abstract:

The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) poses a challenge to some of the Member States within the EU which are mainly concerned with the impact it will have on the major military alliance having EU partners - namely NATO. There are other states - the European neutrals Austria, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Ireland - for whom the CFSP presents quite a different challenge, and that is the challenge to their policy of neutrality. This work concentrates on the position of a single country, Ireland. The author offers Ireland as a unique case and one which has previously escaped serious study.
The work is organised in three sections. The first addresses the meaning of neutrality, neutrality in Ireland and Irish attitudes towards security integration in the EU. Developments in EU security post-Maastricht to March 2000 are examined in the second section. Those factors which have been the imperatives in closer co-operation on security issues in the EU are examined in the third section in the context of developments and adaptations of neutrality in Ireland. It poses questions concerning the future options for Irish security policy and how Ireland will respond to further security integration in the EU.
The work will interest students, scholars and practitioners in the fields of European Studies, International Relations and Strategic Studies.