Soeren Kern

The future direction of European defense is at a crossroads, with the NATO experience in Afghanistan casting into stark relief the limits of European military capacities, and the recently enacted Lisbon Treaty offering important new opportunities to improve European defense capabilities. To establish itself as a credible security actor on the global stage, the EU will need to not only improve the way it works together on defense, but overcome the persistent lack of political will to do so. more

MADRID -- Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has announced several priorities for Spain's six-month presidency of the European Union, which began on Jan. 1.  But during a period that will test how well the EU's new institutional architecture works in practice, Spain's role at the helm of the union is unclear and its leadership has been seriously questioned.
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The Lisbon Treaty is designed, in part, to significantly boost the EU's global clout. A more powerful EU will, in turn, affect changes in the world's geopolitical landscape in ways that are still unknown. Among the big unanswered questions is what impact the Lisbon Treaty will have on transatlantic relations in general, and on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in particular. more

The four nations involved in the Eurofighter Typhoon military aircraft consortium signed a long-awaited contract in late July to buy more of the controversial fighter jets. The breakthrough represents a much-needed financial boost for a program central to European defense cooperation, one that, like other European defense projects, has been dogged by technical problems and spiraling costs. more

The Basque terrorist group ETA marked the 50th anniversary of its founding last week with back-to-back bombings that killed two people and injured more than 50 others. Analysts say the group is under pressure to show it can still mount attacks despite having been weakened by a series of high-profile arrests in recent years, in order to force the Spanish government back to the negotiating table. more

Spanish judges have gained a reputation for activism in recent years by using the principle of universal jurisdiction to pursue cases against suspected human rights violators overseas, most famously the former Chilean dictator, Gen. Augusto Pinochet. But a number of recent developments, including legislative efforst to limit the legal concept, mark a significant setback for its Spanish advocates.
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France and Germany have decided to wait another six months before determining the fate of the troubled A400M military transport plane, a €20 billion collaborative defense project that is now three years behind schedule and nearly €6 billion over budget. The exploding costs of projects like the A400M, coupled with rising expenditures on military missions, are tearing many European defense budgets apart at the seams. more

As if to illustrate the challenges facing an integrated European defense market, a French naval shipyard is suing Spain's leading state-owned shipbuilding firm for allegedly stealing trade secrets relating to the Scorpène submarine project. The Scorpène is not the only European defense joint venture that has run into trouble. Indeed, some projects have fared far worse. more

BARCELONA, Spain -- As the once-vibrant Spanish economy plunges deeper into recession, the government of Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is struggling to staunch the country's skyrocketing jobless rate. And among the first casualties is Spain's famously lenient immigration policy, which the Spanish government is now rethinking in order to ward off social tensions. more

U.S. President Barack Obama's debut NATO summit at the Franco-German border over the weekend was a triumph of style over substance. Although allies put on a public face of unity, they were unable to agree on any of the major problems facing trans-Atlantic security. As NATO marks its 60th birthday, the alliance is mired in a profound identity crisis offering little reason to celebrate. more

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has responded to critics of his decision to return France fully to NATO by downplaying the significance of the plan. But there is probably far more to the move than he is letting on. Sarkozy argues that France must have a voice in the alliance's strategic decision-making in order to defend its own interests. But he also has other motives for reaching out to NATO. more

MADRID, Spain -- Barack Obama begins his presidency with an unprecedented level of goodwill among Europeans, who are hoping he will reverse many of the unpopular policies that embittered transatlantic relations under his predecessor. As the contours of Obama's foreign policy come into focus, however, much of the onus for smoothing the frayed relationship will lie with Europe, not the United States. more

MADRID, Spain -- Spain is on high alert for a possible terrorist attack following the arrest on Nov. 17 of the head of the Basque terrorist group, ETA. Mikel Rubina's arrest by French police in the southern French Pyrenées region is a serious setback for the armed separatists, especially for the hard-line faction within ETA opposed to peace talks with the Spanish government. Since the bombing of the Madrid airport on Dec. 30, 2006, that ended ETA's ceasefire, the Spanish government has launched an unprecedented and, so far, successful crackdown on the group. more

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he will decide by late 2008 or early 2009 whether France will fully rejoin NATO. Even if Sarkozy has pro-American leanings, he also is thoroughly Europe-centric in his worldview; correspondingly, he has spelled out French conditions for rejoining NATO that are very similar to those of former French President Jacques Chirac: American acceptance of an independent European defense capability and a leading French role in NATO's command structures. more