No Guts, No Glory

The author has sought in this book to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of European Union foreign policy making. His main conclusions are that the the Union policy making machinery needs to be considerably strengthened to face up to the increased challenges of today. The reliance on a consensus in foreign policy making will no longer suffice and that more majority voting will become essential. Moreover policy making will increasingly need to rely on principle which will be the best way to arrive at a common approach given the divided nature of the interests and historical backgrounds of the member states of the Union. Finally while soft power and engagement have constituted the main thrust of European policy, this will no longer suffice in a world in which we are seeing the emergence of powerful autocracies and military threats. This will increase the need for more hard power and the consolidation of European military forces which will strengthen our military alliances.