Individuals First: A Human Security Strategy for the European Union MARLIES GLASIUS/ MARY KALDOR* S ince 9/11, many commentators have noted the growing divergence of world views between Europe and the United States. One of the most widely quoted characterizations of this divergence is that of Robert Kagan(2002; 2003). Kagan contrasts what he sees as the American Hob­besian world view, in which military power is the key factor, with the Eu­ropean Kantian view, which places the emphasis on the extension of in­ternational law. The former view considers the Hobbesian idea of a state of nature, a»war of every man against every man«, as continuing to apply to the inter-state world. A superpower, asserting its military might when­ever and however it deems necessary, is therefore the only possible means to maintain order and keep anarchy at bay. The latter Kantian view favors a law-based approach to maintaining international peace and justice, be­lieving that peaceful and rights-based states cannot exist in isolation in a world where»might is right«.»The problem of establishing a perfect civil constitution is subordinate to the problem of a law-governed external re­lationship with other states, and cannot be solved unless the latter is also solved«(Kant[1784] 1991: 45, 47). According to Kagan, the Kantian ap­proach is typical of weak states. Our contention is that a European world view should indeed be based on Kantian principles. As we elaborate below, the European Union itself can be viewed as a»perpetual peace« project, according to which nation­states continue to exist but agree not to go to war with each other and to adhere to certain standards, particularly standards of democracy and hu­man rights. But we differ from Kagan in two important respects. First of all, we argue that, in an era of globalization, this approach is actually more realistic than a Hobbesian world view. Because societies are so interde­pendent at all levels, it is no longer possible to defend the interests of a * Marlies Glasius and Mary Kaldor are the coordinator and the convener of the Study Group on Europe’s Security Capabilities, which presented its Barcelona Report to the eu High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana, on 15 September 2004. 62 Glasius/ Kaldor, A Human Security Strategy for the European Union ipg 1/2005