France and Germany’s European Army or NATO Dilemma

Year 2023, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 121 - 138, 30.06.2023

Mehmet Alkanalka

Abstract

One of the important agenda items of the EU integration process has been common defense and security initiatives. After the Cold War, the tragedy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the middle of Europe, ethnic conflicts in Kosovo, the US invasion of Iraq after the 9/11 terrorist attack without the approval of the UN, and Germany and France's opposition to this military operation brought the European Army discussions to Europe’s security agenda. In this article, I analyzed the France’s and Germany’s White Papers in the light of Walt's threat balance theorem. Although the rhetoric of the European Army seems to be a defense initiative aimed at balancing US hegemony, I have come to the conclusion that it is actually aimed at the defense capacities of economic resources without being threatened from any country. Therefore, the European Army discourse without any threat identification is the vision's greatest impasse. Although Germany and France radically reduced their military expenditures and the number of soldiers after the Cold War and declared that for the first time in history, a peace environment was in Europe, Sweden and Finland's application to NATO membership after the Russia-Ukraine War proved there was no alternative to NATO. In this context, I consider that the possibility of a European Army has decreased with the Russia-Ukraine War, and that Germany will engage in closer defense cooperation with the United States

Keywords

European Army, neo-realism, France, Germany

Fransa ve Almanya’nın Avrupa Ordusu veya NATO İkilemi

Abstract

AB bütünleşme sürecinin önemli gündem maddelerinden birisi de ortak savunma ve güvenlik girişimleri olmuştur. Soğuk Savaş sonrası, Avrupa’nın ortasında vuku bulan Bosna-Hersek trajedisi, Kosova’daki etnik çatışmalar, ABD’nin 9/11 terör saldırısı sonrası Irak’ı işgali ve Almanya ile Fransa’nın bu askerî harekâta karşı çıkmaları gibi uluslararası güvenlik olayları Avrupa Ordusu söylem ve tartışmalarını Avrupa’nın gündemine getirdi. Bu makalede Fransa ve Almanya’nın 21. Yüzyılda yayımladıkları milli güvenlik strateji belgeleri olan Beyaz Kitapları, Prof. Walt’un tehdit dengesi teoremi ışığı altında analiz edilmektedir. Her iki devletin en önemli strateji belgeleri olan beyaz kitaplarının incelenmesi ve asker sayıları ile savunma harcamaları birlikte değerlendirildiğinde; Avrupa Ordusu söylemlerinin ABD hegemonyasını dengelemeye yönelik gibi bir savunma inisiyatifi gibi görünmesine rağmen, aslında herhangi bir devleti tehdit görmeksizin ekonomik kaynakların savunma kapasitelerini amaçladığı sonucuna vardım. Bu nedenle herhangi bir tehdit tanımlaması olmadan Avrupa Ordusu söylemi vizyonun en büyük açmazıdır. Soğuk Savaş sonrasında Almanya ve Fransa askeri harcamalarını ve asker sayılarını radikal oranda azaltıp, tarihte olmadığı kadar ilk defa bir barış ortamının Avrupa’da olduğunu açıklamış olsalar da, Rusya-Ukrayna Savaşı sonrası İsveç ve Finlandiya’nın NATO üyeliğine başvurmaları NATO’nun güvenlik alanında alternatifinin olmadığını teyit etmektedir. Bu kapsamda, Avrupa Ordusu ihtimalinin Rusya-Ukrayna Savaşı ile azaldığı, Almanya’nın ABD ile daha yakın savunma işbirliğine gideceğini değerlendiriyorum.

Keywords

Avrupa Ordusu, Fransa, Almanya, neo-realizm

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