New Security Challenges and EU Responses

Lejins, Atis, Antonio Missiroli. New Security Challenges and EU Responses. Seminar Proceedings. Riga: Latvian Institute of International Affairs, 2004.

These are proceedings from a seminar in Riga on September 17-18 on new and old security threats with the EU security strategy forming the basis for the debate. Hard security  threats are international terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, but how do we categorize regional conflicts and organized crime? There are many more victims of organized crime, which is and indirect and hence soft threat, than actual victims of international terrorism. Where do we place sickness, poverty, and resource depletion? The question arose whether it served any purpose to distinguish hard and soft security threats. This distinction divides the EU and the EU with the USA.