Lost in Translation: Confusing objectives, discourses and capabilities: A reply to Berenskoetter & Giegerich

In their response to my article Irrelevant or Indispensable? ESDP, the 'War on Terror' and the Fallout from Iraq, Felix Berenskoetter and Sebastian Giegerich make a number of insightful and valid points about the nature of ESDP and European foreign policy more generally. They correctly highlight the problems of discourse in the 'war on terror', the role of civilian tools in European foreign policy and the diversity of European efforts. However, they are selective and tendentious in their examination of both the article and much relevant evidence, ignoring elements that undermine their critique. It is not the article that is 'seriously flawed' (Berenskoetter and Giegerich, p. 2) but their interpretation of both it and much of the European Security Strategy (ESS). I will address the three areas of concern they raise.