Ever since the end of the Second World War, most Europeans have felt fortunate to have lived through the longest period of relative peace ever experienced on the continent. Some now take this for granted. Is their sense of security realistic? Security is no longer perceived not only as the absence of war. It now also includes development, freedom, and justice, all part of a comprehensive concept of security. This book bridges a vital gap between the academic literature, publications of think tanks and EU documents. It gives structure to a comprehensive set of security issues facing Europe in the era of globalization and renewed security threats after the Cold War.
Together with the website www.lelundin.org, structured as the book, it provides vital links between theory and actual cases in real time.
The author, currently Distinguished Associate Fellow at Sipri, has an extensive experience as a security policy practitioner inside the EU institutions and as a national diplomat working with a number of international organisations. The value of the book is enhanced through interviews with many officials and academic experts. It provides a unique source of inspiration for all those focussing on the added value of the EU for security.
The book aims at senior level courses in the EU itself, including in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) context. It is also well suited for those preparing themselves for working on security with and in the EU on all levels from NGO:s, national governments to international organisations.
Lars-Erik Lundin is a former diplomat who returned to political science/international
relations research in 2012 after some 35 years in public service.
He is affiliated to the Swedish Defence College as Senior Fellow. He was EU Ambassador to the International organisations in Vienna 2009-2011 and Deputy Political Director of the European Commission from 2006 after serving as head of the RELEX Security Policy Unit from 2000. A former ambassador in the Swedish Foreign Service he earned a Ph.D. in 1980 and is an elected member of the Swedish Royal Academy of War Sciences. He has represented the European Commission in the EU Military Committee and served as deputy representative of the Commission to the PSC for a number of years. As a Swedish diplomat he has extensive experience in arms control, as a representative to the Minsk Group on Nagorno Karabach and served in Angola, Finland and Germany.
