The EU as a Security Actor - A Comparative Study of the EU & NATO between 2006 and 2014

NATO has provided security for the Western Hemisphere for more than half a century now and there is little doubt that it is one of the most successful security alliances the world has ever known. However, after the end of the Cold War, its future become increasingly uncertain, thus leaving space for other another security actor: the EU. During the last two decades, the EU became more active in security matters and even launched its own, first ever anti-piracy and peacekeeping operations, despite a strong NATO presence in the same areas, at the same time. We will take a step back from these specific cases and approach the question of: To what extent, if any, has the EU developed into a security actor which is similar NATO? This question has been approached by constructing a deductive mixed methods study of a longitudinal design, in which we have compared the security regimes of the EU and NATO, and the military expenditures of the two organisations. The results of this study were that: the EU has, in fact, developed into a security actor, but it aligns more closely with the neoliberal institutionalist notion of a security institution