New Forms of Security Policy in Europe

This paper discusses the changes in European security in the 1990s and their impact on national security policies. The analysis is based on the premise that the changes in European security primarily challenge the legitimacy basis of security policies in Europe. The challenge emerges as a result of the combined effects of the end of the Cold War and the increased influence of supranational institutions. In this context the traditional role of security policy as an instrument to protect the national interest of states in a system of anarchy comes into question. Security policy is increasingly becoming an instrument to uphold the law. However, national adaptation to these broad changes in European security has taken different paths. These different paths highlight the continued importance of institutional patterns, long established norms and role conceptions in European security policy.