This report finds that the EU's Police Mission in Afghanistan risks failing in an area where the EU should be showing leadership. The Committee found that the Afghan National Police force is in a dire state due to high attrition and illiteracy rates, and corruption. The mission must pay greater attention to the most basic of policing skills, not least reading and writing, if it is to succeed. The EU is undertaking a vital task in Afghanistan, but it must address the reasons why the mission is failing before it is too late. Reasons include: too few staff - the small target of 400 people has never been met, demonstrating lack of EU commitment and meaning that the mission cannot cover many important parts of the country; the EU and NATO are not working together properly; insufficient attention has been paid to the Afghan judiciary where there are problems of capacity and corruption levels, which risk making police reform unproductive and seriously limiting prosecution levels. The Committee is also concerned that the timetable for building up Afghanistan's ability to police itself does not coincide with the departure of foreign combat troops.
In a relatively short time, the European Union has become one of the world's most powerful and important bodies. Its critical role in international affairs extends to several different areas: economics; culture; the environment; and, of course, international security and foreign affairs. This important volume explains and evaluates EU foreign policy in all its confusing dimensions. Is there really any such thing as "European Union Foreign Policy"? If so, what is it? What are its goals and priorities, and how effective is it? How do outsiders perceive EU foreign policy, and what are the ramifications of those views? Those are just some of the questions this book tries to answer. In order to draw the most comprehensive picture possible of EU foreign policy, Federiga Bindi and her contributors dissect both "horizontal" and "vertical" issues. Vertical concerns focus on particular geographic regions, such as the EU's foreign policy toward Africa and Asia and its relations with the United States. Horizontal issues explore wider crosscutting themes that help explain the EU's foreign policy choices and operations, such as decisionmaking processes and procedures; European self-identity; and core priorities such as peace, democracy, and human rights. Contents Foreword by Giuliano Amato, former foreign minister and prime minister of Italy Part I. The New Tools of EU Foreign Policy II. US-EU Relations after the Elections III. EU Relations with the Rest of the Americas IV. Africa and Asia V. The EU and Its Neighbors VI. The EU, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East VII. Promoting Values and Models Abroad VIII. Conclusions: Assessing EU Foreign Policy
This book critically analyzes the European Union’s role in Security Sector Reform (SSR), a topical issue with regards to European security. While the literature on SSR has increased significantly in the past decade, too little remain in the way of comparative analyses of SSR case studies that are geared toward theory development. This collection strives to push the SSR literature in that direction. One key question it focuses on is whether the EU pursues a holistic approach vis-à-vis SSR. Another question the book addresses is why and how the EU activities towards SSR in conflict management, peacebuilding and statebuilding have produced a wide variety of outcomes that range from the failure to reform any or all of the sub-set of security sectors (police, justice, military, etc.) to complete and integrated reform. The volume encompasses all relevant cases of SSR in terms of the financial, human, and political resources involved at the EU level. Cases are drawn from the Balkans (Kosovo; Bosnia-Herzegovina), Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo), the Middle East (Palestinian Territories), Post-Soviet Space (Georgia), and Asia (Aceh, Indonesia). The end product is a welcome contribution to the literature, providing both an empirically and theoretically grounded approach to the study of SSR. This book was originally published as a special issue of European Security.
Does the EU matter in international security? The authors identify and explain the drivers of and brakes to EU foreign security action, offer methods of assessment to ascertain influence, and conclude that the union has become a niche international security provider that has in turn strengthened EU foreign policy.
This report, produced by the International Development Committee (HCP 65-I. session 2007-08), along with oral and written evidence (HCP 65-II, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215513649) examines the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The Committee reached a number of conclusions, including: that reconstruction of the country and its economy will be a lengthy process and that Afghanistan will not meet the UN's Millennium Development Goals by 2015; that any reconstruction process needs to be Afghan-led; that the consequences for global security are significant if the international community abandons Afghanistan. The Committee also set out 50 recommendations, that include: the Committee supports the UK Government's continuing commitment to help bring peace and security to this region, and that Afghanistan needs to remain a major focus for the Department for International Development; that the presence of 7,000 British troops in this region needs the support of the British public, but that DFID needs a media and communications strategy that places greater emphaisis on the achievements in political reform, economic growth and basic services; that the international commitments by the Afghanistan Government to the rights of women are honoured; the Committee recommends the early provision of a dedicated aeroplane for the use of DFID and other Embassy staff in Afghanistan; the Committee expressed disappointment that sufficient international momentum could not be gained for the appointment of a high level joint UN, NATO, EU coordinator, or super-envoy in Afghanistan, and that ways must be found to fully resource the UN Special Representative in the region; that to stabilise security conditions, full cooperation between the NATO forces, the Afghan Government and armed forces is crucial; that further international pressure be placed on Pakistan to control more effectively the Federally Administered Tribal Areas also that controlling drug trafficking between Afghanistan and Pakistan is key to any counter-narcotics policy; that there has been insufficient attention to and funding for the agricultural and livestock sectors which could provide a range of alternatives to Opium poppy production, and that DFID should establish a programme to offer technical advice and training in agricultural extension services and develop a multifaceted rural livelihoods approach. For a report on UK Operations in Afghanistan, see (HCP 408, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780215035073). For an earlier oral and written evidence on reconstructing Afghanistan, see (HCP 772-i, session 2005-06, ISBN 9780215028112).
The return of the Taliban has undermined EU external action, reversed twenty years of state-building efforts and represents the most significant failure of EU foreign policy to date. Drawing on over 100 hours of interviews with key actors and an in-depth examination of the EU’s state-building efforts, this book offers unparalleled insights into the complex interplay between transatlantic relations and the resurgence of the Taliban. It critically evaluates the EU's strategies, advocating for a nuanced, historically informed approach to international relations. Indispensable for academics, policy makers and anyone vested in the intricacies of foreign interventions in an ever-complex global environment.
Despite a long historical experience of cultural, economic, political and social interaction with Europe, South Asia has never been a region of frontline policy for the European Union, which has gradually emerged as the largest trading partner of most South Asian economies, a major contributor of developmental aid, and home to a large diaspora, mostly in the United Kingdom. Containing nine chapters by emerging and leading scholars in the field, this volume critically examines the motivations, objectives and impact of the European Union’s development cooperation, economic and foreign policy towards South Asia. It raises and seeks to answers questions like – What role can the EU play in easing tensions between India and Pakistan in times of crisis? Is there an official EU policy regarding Kashmir or the challenge of terrorism? What is the nature and prospects of the India-EU strategic partnership? The book explores the European Union’s concerns and policies towards fostering democracy in the region. It assesses the crisis management capabilities of the EU in Afghanistan, its role in conflict resolution in Sri Lanka, and the patterns, characteristics and challenges confronted by the South Asian diaspora in the United Kingdom. The study will be of interest to all those engaged in the fields of political science, international relations, European politics and foreign policy and Indian and South Asian foreign policy.
This edited volume examines the experiences and the roles of the police deployed on peacekeeping and intervention missions in Afghanistan, Bougainville, Cyprus, Haiti, Kosovo, Namibia, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, and Ukraine. Despite the extensive literature that has examined the role of the military in peacekeeping and intervention operations, little literature or information that investigates the role and the work of the police or the methods that they use to assist in the reformation of local police is available. This book provides an overview of the history and role of the police in peacekeeping missions, and discusses the principle factors of police reform and development in post-conflict nations. It includes case studies assessing the background of the conflict and the police deployments, as well as their role, contributions, and achievements. Including two in-depth surveys of police officer experiences on peacekeeping missions, this volume will be of great value to policing researchers and law enforcement leadership, police historians, and students and researchers of post-conflict development.
This book analyses the European Union’s (EU) approach to peacebuilding in its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions, and explores how this approach impacts the EU’s role in international conflict management. Peacebuilding carried out through CSDP instruments has become central to the self-conception of the EU as an actor in international conflict management. EU missions and operations have, for the most part, been deployed to promote peacebuilding efforts in post-conflict situations, in particular through capacity-building, reforms and rebuilding of state structures. This book focuses explicitly on the peacebuilding dimension of the CSDP while exploring why and how the EU has adopted peacebuilding in its CSDP actions as a norm and a practice. It analyses how peacebuilding in EU missions is conceptualised, designed, governed and implemented. The book examines the extent to which EU missions and operations reflect a normative and practical commitment of the EU to peacebuilding – that is to say, the extent to which CSDP instruments have been shaped by international peacebuilding norms and EU foreign policy. Drawing on empirical insights from decision- and policymaking processes in Brussels as well as from missions in Mali and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this book offers critical perspectives on the EU’s role as an international peacebuilding actor. This book will be of much interest to students of European security, EU policy, peace and conflict studies, security studies and international relations.
Europe has undergone quite profound changes since the end of the Cold War. Having been a highly militarised, conflict-ridden and war-ridden region, the core of Europe today constitutes a security community where armed conflicts among the constituent states has become inconceivable. This comprehensive book offers a theoretically founded and thoroughly documented analysis of European security, with a special emphasis on the role played by the United Nations and the various regional and sub-regional organisations, especially the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the European Union. When it comes to explaining peace in Europe opinions differ widely. Some argue that it was only because the West refused to give in to Soviet threats that the latter eventually gave up; or that the 'long peace' in Europe was due to the combination of a bipolar alliance structure, pitting the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) against the Warsaw Pact, with the presence of nuclear weapons on both sides. Others point instead to the extraordinarily dense network of international institutions and organisations in Europe, offering a wide panoply of fora in which to handle disputes peacefully; or to the web of interdependence in economic and other affairs, tying together all states in Europe in relations which militate strongly against war. Still others believe that the external peace between the states in Europe is simply a reflection of a convergence of cultures, democracies with marked economies that are open towards the world market. These questions are the focal point of this book, which concentrates on security, albeit not in the sense of being a treatise on military matters, but security obtainable by much more indirect and non-military means. It will be required reading for all students and scholars of European security and the organisations which underpin it.
