Europe’s emergent but weak strategic culture: The case of the EU, Iran, and nuclear weapons diplomacy

During 2001-03 the European Union (EU) developed a policy to prevent the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. This policy – a strategy, in fact – was published simultaneously with the European Security Strategy in December 2003 (EU, 2003a, 2003b). The policy in many ways represents an achievement because it deals with a difficult and dangerous topic that traditionally is a cause of division within the EU. Moreover, the policy came about at a time when the EU countries were divided on the war in Iraq and the new US strategy of pre-emptive defence.