European Public Opinion on the Future of Its Security

This article reports some preliminary results from a comparative research project on how security issues have been perceived in the twelve E.C. countries since the early 1970s among the mass public. This period has been characterized by breathtaking changes in the political and military world environment. How have Europeans reacted to these changes and what are their opinions on the future shape of European defense policy? The empirical evidence is based on a secondary analysis of public opinion surveys conducted in the European Community in the last twenty-one years. The trend analyses show that Europeans are overwhelmingly favorable to the creation of a common European security organization. This does not mean, however, that NATO is no longer thought to be essential or that the E.C. should supplant or replace NATO as the most important forum for making decisions about the security of Western Europe.