Post-Cold War Security and Defence in ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Europe

In this chapter, the authors consider Donald Rumsfeld’s meanings of the terms ‘old’ and ‘new’, and propose a new method of distinction based on both new and traditional theories and perspectives of security. They provide case studies from both ‘old’ and ‘new’ Europe in which they analyse the foreign and domestic influences of security policies and ask whether policies and determinants actually reflect old or new security threats. Rumsfeld’s statement indicates that European states are ignoring or are unwilling to proactively engage with ‘new’ security threats such as terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The notion and exact conceptualization of ‘old’ Europe are very complex and contentious, and alleged membership of ‘old’ Europe is quite controversial. Following the end of the Cold War and the terrorist attacks of 9/11, security and defence policy responses to systemic imperatives in the countries of ‘old’ Europe have shown only a partial alteration of previous security and defence policies.