A significant and timely contribution to the on-going debate on Ireland's participation in a European military force, the Nice Treaty and wider issues concerning democracy and the culture of peace.

Shows how Ireland's foreignpolicy values of peaceful conflict resolution and the authority of the UN have been eroded by the EU and NATO, but can be reclaimed and made effective. A vital source of information on the Nice Treaty debate, and for subsequent discussions on thefuture of the EU, particularly in relation to security and defence. A comprehensive, clear and accessible treatment of vital current issues such as the danger of nuclear warfare, the 'War on Terror', and the links between militarism and world poverty.

Defending Peace traces how the EU, under the influence of NATO, has evolved a disturbingly militaristic 'common defence policy', and how successive Irish governments have misled us into involvement in it. It shows that this policy is hugely at odds with the values allegedly underlying Irish foreign policy, particularly peace building under UN authority, and with those of the Peace Process. It answers the charge that critics of the current 'War on Terror' are 'anti-American', through the voices of 11th September relatives and other US citizens who reject war as the answer. Far from failing, the UN has been prevented from fulfilling its mandate by the large industrial and military states, and a UN reclaimed by global civil society is the only practical alternative to NATO's lawless aggression. Such aggressive militarism is linked to the crisis of EU democracy, and the author urges that we should not be bullied into passing a Treaty we have already rejected, or be misled by false claims that without it the EU cannot be enlarged. A rejection, or renegotiation, of the Nice Treaty would launch the building of a more democratic and peaceful Europe, through the Convention on the Future of Europe and the 2004 EU Summit which it will prepare.