Normative power Europe reconsidered: beyond the crossroads

The idea of being civilian, military, and civilizing at the same time is undoubtedly very seductive to the armies of academics now writing on EU military force. It is tempting to think that the EU can have-its-cake-and-eat-it-too in militarizing its normative power. In contrast, in my reconsideration of normative power Europe I suggest that militarization of the EU need not necessarily lead to the diminution of the EU's normative power, if the process is characterized by critical reflection rather than the pursuit of ‘great power’. However, I will further argue that militarizing processes beyond the crossroads provided by the European Security Strategy are already weakening the normative claims of the EU in a post-11 September world characterized by the drive towards ‘martial potency’ and the growth of a Brussels-based ‘military-industrial simplex’.