Europe as a Global Actor? Common Security and Defence Policy Question and British and German Role

This research proposal aims to analyze reasons of the European Union’s (EU) inability to develop a strong Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) with regard to the role of main EU member states, namely Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) and find an alternative approach to overcome the CSDP question. For this purpose, this proposal starts with providing a brief historical overview of CSDP which has been established by the Treaty of Lisbon as a part of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and examine its amendments and developments and main objectives by discussing its operation structure. Then, the study will look at challenges of CSDP faces today by examining EU institutions concerned with implementing CSDP and foreign policy tools. In this case, this research aims to study Libya conflict and Ukraine crisis as case studies to define the obstacles of building and maintaining a common foreign and defense policy and question whether development of a common security and defense policy is desirable by examining specific mechanisms which it includes. Within that regard, this study will examine the impacts of two influential states that affects the EU–Germany and the UK- on those cases and their role on future of CSDP. Also, this study will question whether they make a contribution to the achievement of an intensive CSDP and a more effective EU foreign policy depend on actions on these two states. As a conclusion, by looking alternative approaches to that problem, this study will argue that the EU will leap over the cradle of CSDP threshold and act as a global actor or abandon CSDP experiment and remain as a soft power in the global arena.