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11. Conflict Prevention Takes Centre Stage

Author:
Catriona Gourlay and Natalie Pauwels
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
The Göteborg European Council endorsed the Swedishled EU Programme for the Prevention of Violent Conflicts. The Programme is the result of the Swedish Presidency's drive to put conflict prevention on equal footing with, while distinguishing it from, the development of EU crisis management capabilities. It sets out ambitious goals and a broad mandate for further action, identifying over 20 actions to be elaborated under successive Presidencies. The success of the Programme nevertheless depends on its implementation by future Presidencies, Member States and the Commission.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

12. The Fuss About Turkey

Author:
Catriona Gourlay, Natalie Pauwels, Sharon Riggle, and Thomas Sköld
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
Agreement on EU-NATO cooperation is vital to the development of the common European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) since the EU plans to rely on access to certain common NATO assets for EUled crisis management operations. Turkey, a key non- EU European NATO member, argues that it is underrepresented in ESDP structures and is threatening to block such an agreement unless the EU adopts new mechanisms to further involve it in ESDP decision-shaping and planning. This article explores the grounds for Turkish dissention, EU resistance and whether there may be room for compromise.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Turkey

13. Developing a Proactive Approach to EU Conflict Prevention: The first steps

Author:
Catriona Gourlay, Sibylle Bauer, Jens Mosegaard, Sharon Riggle, Kelly Baumgartner, and Otfried Nassauer
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
The Commission and the Secretary General/ High Representative (SGHR) Javier Solana presented a joint paper outlining challenges and recommendations for improving the effectiveness and cohesion of action for conflict prevention to the Nice European Council in December 20011. The Swedish Presidency now plans to build on these recommendations to develop a concrete programme for conflict prevention to be agreed at the Göteborg European Council in June 2001. This article identifies some of the elements that such a programme might contain.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

14. EU Finalises Military Tasks: Much Left To Do

Author:
Catriona Gourlay, Sibylle Bauer, Sharon Riggle, Thomas Sköld, and Jensen Frederik
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
At the Nice Summit on 8 December, EU member states agreed that it is time for the EU to 'play...its role fully on the international stage' by cementing a new military dimension to its structures. The 60-page 'Presidency Report' (doc#14056), attached at the end of the Presidency Conclusions, exhaustively describes the modalities of the new common European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), and describes how the new structures will enable the EU to carry out the so-called Petersberg Tasks. [This article includes excerpts from a longer paper, available soon at www.cesd.org].
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

15. Military secrecy in the EU Council provokes legal challenges

Author:
Catriona Gourlay, Sibylle Bauer, and Jensen Frederik
Publication Date:
10-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
On 26 July 2000 EU Ambassadors voted to introduce new rules denying the public access to classified, secret or top-secret documents containing information on military or non-military crisis management. The decision was adopted in August without further consultation of other EU institutions or any parliamentary or public debate. The Council has since been accused by some member states and the European Parliament (EP) of bringing secrecy into the EU by bypassing normal decision-making procedures and excluding an entire category of documents from the public — challenges which will ultimately be resolved in the European Court of Justice.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

16. The EU Rapid Reaction Facility: A quick fix or fudge?

Author:
Catriona Gourlay, Sibylle Bauer, Christopher Bollinghaus, Hiroko Kosaka, and Russell Pickard
Publication Date:
07-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
One of the shortcomings of European Union (EU) crisis management is the inability, as a direct result of the rigidities imposed by the pillar structure, to mobilise resources to support properly co-ordinated, coherent and timely nonmilitary interventions. The report on Non-Military Crisis Management of the EU, prepared for the European Council in Helsinki in December 1999, called for the establishment of a Rapid Reaction Facility (RRF) to overcome these structural obstacles. The Commission has since developed a proposal for a Council Regulation to establish such a Facility but outstanding questions about its legal basis and its sources of funding may delay its adoption.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

17. Enhancing the EU's Response to Violent Conflict: Moving Beyond Reaction to Preventive Action

Author:
Philip Wilkinson, Stefan Lehne, and Catriona Gourlay
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
Quoting the words of Alva Myrdal in her 1982 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Mrs Theorin noted that we are living in an age of “instrumentalised, de - personalized violence.” In the post - cold war era the battlefield has moved to the village, the street and the home. Most recent and ongoing wars occur within a state rather than between states, with civilians being the prime targets and victims of violent conflict. The international community too often avoids its responsibilities, failing to commit peacekeepers, while others sidestep the United Nations (UN) in pursuit of their own interests. Faced with such inconsistencies in the international community's willingness to intervene, non - violent methods must be given priority. The most important part of the EU's new Rapid Reaction Force is not the missiles, tanks and soldiers, but rather the advantage in civilian crisis management that it presents. The central part must be a civilian peace service based on voluntary civilian organisations trained and competent to serve in crisis management scenarios. We need to incorporate civil society unless we want it to become a shadow of NATO. Two thousand years ago Cicero remarked that there are two ways of resolving conflict: through negotiation or through violence. The first is for human beings, the other for wild beasts. We should have a clear vision of conflict prevention that recognises that there are two ways of solving conflicts: through negotiations and through violence. We are not beasts, but humans. And we must seek to solve conflicts through negotiation, not killing.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution
Political Geography:
America, Europe, and Middle East