Minilateral Cooperation and Transatlantic Coalition-Building: The E3/EU-3 Iran Initiative

European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2015

“…In consequence, various symbolic and non-symbolic arguments have been advanced as to whether or not the ban should 73 On E3/EU+3 Iran Talks and the EU's engagement with Iran, see e.g., Harnischa (2007), p. 1; Dryburgh (2008), p. 253. Some Member States, in particular France, have sought to lift the arms embargo because of the lobbying of interest groups.…”

Strategic Cultures in Europe

“…But French security culture clearly prefers forms of multilateralism and international cooperation that rely on a statutory hierarchy of states, as in the case of the UN Security Council or the Non-Proliferation Treatyor, alternatively, that rely on informal political 'directorates' like the EU-3 (Germany, the UK and France) in negotiations with Iran (Giegerich 2006;Harnisch 2007). The basic trend of French policy is to be well positioned in all the coalitions that matter in security and military issues.…”

The Pursuit of Northeast Asian Multilateral Security Cooperation in an Emerging Global Order

“…Their initiative was instrumental in bringing about a temporary suspension of Iran's enrichment activities since Tehran believed that the E3 could facilitate negotiations with Washington to obtain U.S. security guarantees. Although the U.S. relationship with Iran was undeniably the most important factor, the EU's policy of 'effective multilateralism,' particularly the E3's focus on 'maximizing tactical advantages in direct negotiations with Iran,' greatly contributed to preventing a military strike against the Iranian nuclear program (Harnisch 2007;Meier 2013, 1). In this vein, Korea's recent efforts to strengthen minilateral cooperative mechanisms such as trilater-al relations with the U.S. and Japan, China and Japan, and the U.S. and China, should be promoted to seek tactical solutions for the deadlock over nuclear North Korea and other predicaments in the region.…”