EUROPEAN SECURITY IDENTITIES

This article undertakes a reading of political identifications in Euro pe from the security perspective. Who or what exist politically in Eur ope? This is investigated through the test of whether and how differen t units are able to carry out the move characteristic of 'security': t hat is, to say 'our survival is threatened, therefore we have a right to use extraordinary measures against this particular threat'. Europe as an area is marked by a complex presence of different overlapping po litical subjectivities-security can be carried out most importantly wi th nation, state, Europe or the environment as referent object. 'Europ e' itself is a security referent in a truly original way, where integr ation through a security argument becomes a matter of survival for 'Eu rope'. Europe, security, integration and identity have been tied toget her in a specific narrative. Strikingly, the seemingly purely academic term 'security identity' has a political appearance exactly at this i ntersection.