"As a result of new strategic threats, Europe's land forces are currently undergoing a historic transformation which may reflect wider processes of European integration. Europe's mass, mainly conscript armies are being replaced by smaller, more capable, professionalised militaries concentrated into new operational headquarters and rapid reaction brigades, able to plan, command and execute global military interventions. At the same time, these headquarters and brigades are co-operating with each other across national borders at a level which would have been inconceivable in the twentieth century. As a result, a transnational military network is appearing in Europe, the forces in which are converging on common forms of military expertise. This is a groundbreaking study of the military dimensions of European integration, which have been largely ignored until now. It will appeal to scholars across the social sciences interested in the progress of the European project, and the nature of the military today"--

' this is an excellent book and a valuable contribution to the literature on the post-Cold War adaptation of European armed forces. It should be read by practitioners and higher-level students of strategic studies.' International Affairs

Autorentext
Anthony King is Professor of Sociology at the University of Exeter. Since 2003 he has been conducting intensive research on the armed forces, observing military training, exercises and operations and has developed close relations with the armed forces at the highest levels. He has co-written parts of Britain's new counter-insurgency doctrine and is working for NATO's Regional Command South Headquarters in Kandahar. On the basis of this work, he has contributed to public debates about security and defence policy, appearing on the BBC and in the Guardian, Prospect and RUSI.

Zusammenfassung
Europe's armed forces have been re-organising themselves to prepare for 'new wars' around the world. Examining operational headquarters and rapid reaction brigades, this book explores how Europe's forces are concentrating themselves into smaller but more capable professional forces which are co-operating ever more closely with each other across national borders.

Inhalt

Preface; Part I. Strategic Context: 1. Towards a sociology of military transformation; 2. Europe's new military; 3. The capacity for autonomous action?; Part II. Operational Transformation: 4. The operational network; 5. The operational renaissance; 6. Operational art; Part III. Tactical Transformation: 7. The empowered brigade; 8. Elitism; 9. Cohesion; 10. Co-ordination; 11. The future of Europe's armed forces.