EUROPEAN UNION SECURITY POLICY: IRAQ AND AFTER

The Iraq War was a telling illustration of the divisions between EU Member States and emblematic of the challenges the EU will face in the future in framing a common foreign policy. The Iraq War did not create these tensions. Rather, the Iraq War bought to the surface problems that have been long in gestation. The questions that arose at the beginning of the nineties—when the Union started to develop a common foreign policy—have never really been settled. Hence, questions remain today about the EU's role in the world. Because the development of a European Union foreign policy is in its early stages, the EU has experienced many problems trying to have its voice heard. This is largely because EU Member States have acted in their own national interests and have been unable to come to agreement over what the role of the EU should be in regards to foreign policy. The Iraq War bought these problems into sharper focus and is a telling case study in examining EU foreign policy more generally. Part one of this paper will examine the problems the EU has had in regards to foreign policy in the nineties. Throughout much of the decade the EU was unable to have its voice neither heard nor articulate a common position. This was seen in regards to the First Gulf War and the Kosovo crisis. These events highlighted the lack of an overall EU foreign policy rationale1. The problems that have existed since the nineties were bought to a head over the most recent Iraq War. The divisions were symptomatic of a larger problem in EU foreign policy. Part two of this paper will examine the evolution of the EU's foreign policy since the nineties. While much progress has been made, EU foreign policy remains a work in progress. It is for this reason that there have been problems and divisions over conflicts such as Kosovo