Petar Petrov

Whose Rule, Whose Law? Contested Statehood, External Leverage and the European Union's Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo

The article discusses the projection of European Union (EU) power under conditions of contested statehood in its ‘near abroad’. Using the EUs mission in Kosovo (EULEX) as a case study, the article unpacks the various levers of external EU influence and explores the conditions under which European policy‐makers become entangled in the ‘existential discourse’ of highly polarized societies with competing statehood claims. The contestation of these claims (both domestically and internationally) produces significant challenges for EU actorness, affecting both self‐ascribed (internal to the EU) and external (amongst the EUs interlocutors) aspects of EU presence, which, in turn, shapes the EUs ability to deploy and co‐ordinate its capabilities on the ground. It is by reference to this ‘presence–capabilities’ nexus that this article seeks to conceptualize the limitations of the planning and early deployment of EULEX in Kosovo.

The European Union's Crisis Management Operations: Strategic Culture in Action?

How useful is the concept of strategic culture for understanding when, where and how the European Union uses force? This paper will assess the extent to which agreement among the European Union Member States to conduct Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations is founded on a top-down approach based on a common strategic culture or alternatively on a bottom-up approach. In the latter case, a decision to deploy troops is based on specific Member States’ interests and capabilities. Four military operations will be analysed: Operation EUFOR Althea, EUFOR RD Congo, EUFOR TChad/RCA and Operation Atalanta. Emphasis is placed on whether there has been any form of decision-making based on shared beliefs, attitudes and norms regarding the use of force. The aim is to highlight whether there has been increasing convergence behind the reasoning for the deployment of European Union operations which indicates the extent to which the organisation possesses a European strategic culture.

The European Defence Agency and Permanent Structured Cooperation: Are We Heading Towards Another Missed Opportunity?

The member states’ military capability deficits are well known. These can be attributed to nationally focused investment which leads to duplication and non-interoperability, the lack of a fully-fledged European strategic culture which would provide top-down guidance as to which capabilities need to be developed and finally member states’ static and declining defence budgets. Attempts to close the European Union’s numerous military deficits have been haphazard and have often been no more than a documenting exercise where capability gaps are identified but little is done to actually close them (the European Capability Action Plan process being a case in point). Nonetheless, there are significant financial imperatives for moving towards a greater use of pooling due to the current economic crisis. This article therefore analyses the work of the European Defence Agency (EDA) in military capability development and in particular focuses on the role that Permanent Structured Cooperation in Defence (PSCD) can play to encourage the member states to move from defence sovereignty to pooled defence resources. Two interconnected research questions provide the core focus for the research. First, what does PSCD add to what currently exists and to what extent is this likely to re-invigorate capability development? Second, to what extent can the EDA play a role in developing PSCD thus enabling the concept to succeed? Indeed, the introduction of PSCD in the Treaty of Lisbon can be

The EU’s partners in crisis response and peacebuilding: complementarities and synergies with the UN and OSCE

ABSTRACT A stated aim in the EU Global Strategy is for the EU to work with partners in addressing crises across the world. This article analyses such potential in the area of crisis response and peacebuilding, with an emphasis on the EU’s interaction with the UN and OSCE. It starts off comparatively by examining where the EU, UN and OSCE add value in crisis response and peacebuilding and reach complementarities. It shows that deployments differ across geographical locations and that the mandates of these organizations vary considerably with the EU focusing on police capacity building, the OSCE on the judiciary and the UN providing monitoring functions. In the second half, the article uses insights from cooperation between these organizations on the ground in Kosovo, Mali and Armenia to determine levels of interaction. Despite relatively few conflicts between these organizations, we find that they continue to work in parallel with each organization focusing on their narrow mandate and competences.

Governing risks in international security

ABSTRACT Risks are omnipresent in contemporary international security. Despite a long tradition in security studies going at least back to Von Clausewitz, we consider that the topic of risk remains under-examined. This forum seeks to advance the research agenda on risk in security studies by showcasing work of scholars using advanced concepts of risk, based on insights from sociology, biology, psychology, and safety studies, to better understand the role of risk in international security. As a way of introduction, this short article sets out the main debates.

Reacting to Conflict: Civilian Capabilities in the EU, UN and OSCE

This report analyses how the EU, UN and OSCE make resources available for civilian missions. It starts with an overview of civilian missions around the world before comparing civilian planning and conduct procedures in these international organisations. The report zooms in on EU civilian capabilities and provides policy recommendations.