Europe needs to be globally involved

There is no such thing as "the European Island" or "Fortress Europe." Rather, the continent is part of an increasingly interconnected world. As such, Europe is in both political and economic competition with established and emergent states. The coming years will bear witness not only to a potentially conflict-prone wrestling match over access to essential raw materials and new markets. The rise of India and above all China could fundamentally shift the balance of power to Asia.

At the same time, internationally active terrorist networks overwhelm the traditional instruments of foreign and security policy and erase the lines between external and internal security. Europe cannot escape this threat any more than the problem of failed states, some of which have suffered for decades under civil wars that have taken away any opportunity for democratic and economic development in the region.

Thus, Europe has no choice: it has to learn to speak with one voice and become active globally. By establishing a Minister of Foreign Affairs and new forms of cooperation in the area of security and defense, the EU constitution is already pointing in the right direction. This also includes the new European Security Strategy, "A Secure Europe in a Better World," in which EU member states work together to evaluate the security policy situation as well as their interests and options for action. Conceptually speaking, however, this is just the beginning of a long road-one that leads to a place where member states not only coordinate their foreign, security and defense policy capabilities, but integrate them as well.