Defence Engagement in Irish Foreign policy: Time for a Joint Force Concept

Abstract

The evolving and complex nature of the contemporary challenges facing states requires militaries to adopt modern force structures and associated capabilities that will allow them to contribute towards the delivery of national foreign policy. This paper examines the role that the Irish Defence Forces can provide towards developing and delivering Irish foreign policy over the coming decades. The paper considers the following research question: how can the Irish Defence Forces evolve to meet both current and future taskings assigned by government, in support of national foreign policy objectives. Analysis for this paper is drawn from the assessment of other western military organisations in order to identify if the Irish Defence Forces' current structure remains suitable in the current multilateral operating environment. Potential future roles for the Irish Defence Forces, with respect to foreign policy, through the mechanism of defence engagement, are discussed based on this analysis.