9
interdependence and mutual interference that are prized in Europe, they are believed to be a
threat to the American model of sovereignty.
Contradictions in British Foreign Policy
Even though there is no consensus in Europe as to what kind of an actor the United States is,
the publication of The European Security Strategy and an FCO strategy document recognise the
need to respond to the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States of America
(NSS).
24
The marriage of primacy with the doctrine of preemption provoked consternation in
European capitals.
25
Many viewed the NSS and the wider Bush doctrine as a threat to
transatlantic relations and the UN system.
Robert Cooper, Prime Minister Blair’s foreign
policy guru during his first term, viewed it more as an opportunity for others to re-appraise the
foundations of their security. As he wrote in The breaking of nations, ‘if Europeans do not like
the United States National Security Strategy they should develop their own rather than
complain from the sidelines’.
26
By the time the book was in press, Cooper was doing just that.
In his new capacity as Javier Solana’s advisor, he was one of the main drafters of the European
Security Strategy (ESS) document that was adopted by member governments on 12 December
2003.
27
In the same month, the FCO published its own version entitled UK International Priorities: A
Strategy for the FCO.
28
24
‘National Security Strategy of the United States of America’, 17 September 2002, at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nssall.html.
25
‘It would be difficult to overestimate the consternation provoked in European foreign policy circles by the
publication of the Bush administration’s National Security Strategy in 2002.’ John Peterson, ‘American as a
European power: the end of empire by integration’, International Affairs 80.4 (2004), p. 623.
26
Cooper, The breaking of nations, p.165.
27
Christopher Hill identifies the connection between Cooper and the drafting of the ESS. He also provides
background context for the publication, such as the fact that one of the main motivations behind the ESS was ‘to
convince the USA that Europe was not totally mired in delusional soft power thinking’. See his ‘Britain and the
European Security Strategy’, unpublished paper, 18 May 2004. Available at:
http://www.fornet.info/documents/Working%20Paper%20no%206.pdf, p. 2.
28
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued its document on ‘British International Priorities: A Strategy for
the FCO’ in December 2003. Available at:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/FCOStrategyFullFinal.pdf
.
Convention