Policy-Making in EU Security and Defense

Reviews / Votes

"This is an exceptionally well-researched and rigorous study of one of the key elements in the development of the EU's foreign and security policies. It sets up a clear framework for the study of policy-making using a rationalist institutionalist perspective, and applies it systematically to a range of EU missions in Europe, Asia and Africa. The result is a key text in the study of EU foreign policy-making and implementation." Michael H. Smith, Jean Monnet Professor of European Politics, Department of Politics, History and International Relations, Loughborough University, UK

"The book can be highly recommended to anyone interested in the CSDP. While its unique focus on EU bureaucracies makes it interesting for readers with extensive background knowledge, the concise discussions of the CSDP's institutional development, policy-making process and several of its operations also renders it an excellent introductory work for readers less familiar with the subject." Tim Haesebrouck in the Journal of Common Market Studies

"In this fine book, Hylke Dijkstra offers the most systematic analysis so far of the influence exerted by EU officials in security and defense policy. Based on principal-agent theory and impressive empirical material, Dijkstra explores why states have delegated power to the EU in this sensitive domain, and how EU officials succeed in making their mark on EU foreign policy." Jonas Tallberg, Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, Stockholm University, Sweden

"Hylke Dijkstra guides the reader expertly through the institutional and procedural vagaries of Europe's security and defense policy" Sven Biscop, Director of the 'Europe in the World Programme', Egmont Institute, Belgium

"Policy-Making in EU Security and Defense is an outstanding contribution ... and will be of interest to both students and more advanced researchers of the EU polity, integration studies and the [CSDP]. Thanks to clear and plain language, this is both an easily readable and profound book about supranational agency in a policy area still widely considered to be the last bastion of intergovernmental affairs." Sebastian Knecht in European Security

"Policy-Making in EU Security and Defense ... is remarkable for its analytical clarity and depth. Dijkstra persuasively shows that the (non-)delegation of functions to EU bureaucracies ... has been intentional and based on the member states' conscientious weighing of anticipated gains in terms of efficiency and anticipated losses in terms of sovereignty. Through insightful case studies, the book illustrates how EU civil servants manage to exert influence on the CSDP." Carolyn Moser in Public Administration