Description
The European Union (EU) has carried out 36 peace missions and operations in Europe, Africa, and Asia since the early 2000s, which have featured prominently in its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). This chapter presents an overview of these missions and operations and offers a critique of the EU’s efforts. It first explains the institutional and decision-making apparatuses which frame CSDP missions and operations; it then briefly analyzes the forces that have shaped their emergence and evolution. The chapter moves on to provide a concise mapping of the EU’s practice and, finally, it outlines a few of the most significant strengths and critiques of the Union’s approach, as well as current challenges to its efforts.
Definition
The EU’s peace missions and operations, deployed since 2003, aim to “help resolve or prevent conflict and crises,...
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The author would like to thank the section editor, Kai Michael Kenkel, as well as Tor Krever, for comments on an earlier draft. The author also wishes to acknowledge the financial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through her Sabbatical Leave Grant (SFRH/BSAB/142996/2018) and the Strategic Project (UID/SOC/50012/2013). This chapter is an output of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence ‘Peace Relations, Ontologies and Narratives in Europe: EU and its Eastern Neighbours’ (PRONE), 611269-EPP-1-2019-1-PT-EPPJMO-CoE, based at the University of Coimbra. The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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Almeida Cravo, T. (2021). The European Union’s Peace Missions and Operations. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_2-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_2-1
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