Added: 04/29/2006 |
European Security - undercondition for wealth and health of EuropeIn our fast-paced, highly industrialized and educated world the European security still faces threats and challenges. Although we have long ago become free from the consequences and remembrances of the World War II, the recent years have left no region untouched by an armed conflict. The major international organizations that focus their activities and accords on the European security as well as on the European disarmament are the EU, NATO and UN.
NATO has exerted much influence on the arms' control, particularly, on the control of the nuclear weapons. At the Washington Summit in April of 1999, NATO decided to increase efforts against weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their means of delivery, such as missiles. For this aim the WMD Center was created as a part of the WMD Initiative. Certain states, which are known to possess chemical and biological weapons, have not signed an agreement, though NATO works further and discusses all possible obstacles and problem solutions.
The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) is also a global player in studying and working out effective strategies that can provide the European security and peace. In particular, the Institute investigated all possible effects of the Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as possibilities of its collapse. The NPT is considered "a cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime" and, actually, it is a treaty with the largest membership in the world that provides a considerable level not only of European, but also of the world security. However, the UN proposes that the NPT should become, followed by more firm and concrete steps towards the nuclear disarmament.
The European Union, a union of twenty five states, representing over four hundred and fifty million people, inevitably shares the responsibility for the European security. The Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP), the second pillar of the European Union, established in 1993 with the objectives to cover all areas of the foreign and security policy, including safeguarding the common values and fundamental interests, independence and integrity of the Union, preserving peace and strengthening international security and a lot more vital issues. The major policy document that defines the international security strategy of the EU is the European Security Strategy.
According to the data, presented in the European Security Strategy, the policy document that guides the European Union's international security strategy since 1990, almost four million people have died in wars, ninety percent of them civilians. Over eighteen million people throughout the world have left their homes due to a conflict in the region.
The document also defines the kea threats that the European security faces today, particularly, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, a state failure (bad governance, including corruption, an abuse of power, weak institutions and a lack of accountability), and an organized crime. The European Security Strategy contains strategic objectives to address the threats and build the security in Europe.
The Center for European Security and Disarmament (CESD), established in 1993 and based in Brussels, is a major organization that provides information and advice on the European defense, foreign and security policy. It has published regular reports and briefing papers on activities of the EU, NATO and UN.
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