United in Diversity? A Model for Measuring Defence Policy Culture in Europe

From the attempts to create a European Security and Defence Identity to the current developments in Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the attitudes of European society toward these policies have been valued as an essential element for their understanding and growth. However, these issues have received insufficient attention in the current literature as building blocks of European political culture. This article, therefore, proposes a new model for measuring European defence political culture to identify the underlying dimensions of European defence political culture and which individual factors determine it. This research uses Eurobarometer data and employs advanced statistical methods of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to create a robust and reliable measurement instrument. The findings point to the existence of diverse political subcultures within the European Union, and these results will inform the development of a more effective and coherent Common Security and Defence Policy.