MILITARY COOPERATION: WHAT STRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE ?
MILITARY COOPERATION: WHAT STRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE ?

Author(s): René Van Beveren
Subject(s): Security and defense, Military policy
Published by: EUISS European Union Institute for Security Studies
Summary/Abstract: In this paper, defence is given a much wider sense. The state, in freely pursuing its stated goals, is inevitably in competition - or in conflict in the broad sense of the word - with other states. Its security policy consists of an ensemble of measures which allow it to attain its objectives, possibly after having adapted them to the hostile milieu of international relations. Defence policy is one of its aspects: it is the preparation and the use of military means to attain national objectives. In its broad definition, defence policy is thus not limited to the use of military force to deter, stop or repel any aggression against national territory but also implies the commitment, beyond its frontiers, of military forces to defend universal values, such as human rights or the observance of international law, or national interests. This policy thus consists in the threat of the use, and the use, of military force to impose the will of a state on a hostile entity. It should be added that the United Nations charter imposes limits on the aggressive use of military force.

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