Civil-Military Relations in the European Union and "Innere Fuehrung"

This thesis investigates the compatibility of sociological and cultural interpretations of the phenomena of civilmilitary relations in the Euro-Atlantic realm within the contemporary challenges of European Security Defense Policy (ESDP). This study further describes and analyzes the key features of the German approach of “Innere Fuehrung” with its guiding principle of the “citizen in uniform”—a central ideal with a long European tradition. The thesis argues that conceptual deficiencies and terminological imprecision in the field of civil-military relations within the European Union, in general, and ESDP, in particular, could lead to problematic consequences for European military integration in the future. If these deficiencies are not addressed by those affected by them, such problems of democratic civil military affairs in the leading European nations could have a significant impact on the evolution and future shape of civil-military relations in the European Union, in general, and on the role and status of European soldiers, in particular, amid the challenges and threats of the present and future. This thesis answers the question of how well suited the German civil-military concept and philosophy of Innere Fuehrung can be to the enhancement of EU military integration.