The Uk's In-out Referendum ― Eu Foreign and Defence Policy Reform

As David Owen notes in The UK’s In-Out Referendum, the European Union’s attempts at conflict resolution have left much to be desired. In the Ukraine, Baltic States, Turkey, and much of the Middle East, a lack of coherent policy has dominated. This book argues that the renegotiations around the United Kingdom’s referendum vote represent an opportunity to enact wide-scale reform, not least to ensure that the nations of an increasingly politically integrated Eurozone do not come to dominate the Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union in the years to come. To allow them to do so, Owen argues, would almost certainly see the policy of “common defense” advance at the expense of the United States’ lasting commitment to NATO. Ultimately, Owen contends Britain’s continued membership of a largely unreformed European Union would have serious implications for the United Kingdom’s security, and that foreign policy and security belong at the heart of the reforms the European Union so desperately needs.
 

David Owen has served as a member of Parliament, minister for the Navy, health minister, and foreign secretary. He is now an Independent Social Democrat in the House of Lords. His books includeThe Hidden Perspective: The Military Conversations 1906–1914.