EU Global Strategy and Human Security: Rethinking Approaches to Conflict

Description

This volume examines the EU’s Global Strategy in relation to human security approaches to conflict. Contemporary conflicts are best understood as a social condition in which armed groups mobilise sectarian and fundamentalist sentiments and construct a predatory economy through which they enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary citizens. This volume provides a timely contribution to debates over the role of the EU on the global stage and its contribution to peace and security, at a time when these discussions are reinvigorated by the adoption of the EU Global Strategy. It discusses the significance of the Strategic Review and the Global Strategy for the re-articulation of EU conflict prevention, crisis management, peacebuilding, and development policies in the next few years. It also addresses the key issues facing EU security in the 21st century, including the conflicts in Ukraine, Libya and Syria, border security, cyber-security and the role of the private security sector. The book concludes by proposing that the EU adopts a second-generation human security approach to conflicts, as an alternative to geopolitics or the ‘War on Terror’, taking forward the principles of human security and adapting them to 21st-century realities. This book will be of interest to students of human security, European foreign and security policy, peace and conflict studies, global governance and IR in general. Cover Half Title Book Title Table of Contents List of Illustrations Note on Contributors Introduction Note References Part I Background 1 Assessing Mogherini’s ‘The European Union in a Changing Global Environment’ from within a ‘reflexive modern’ world Introduction European security in a ‘reflexive modern’ world ‘European Security’ in Mogherini’s ‘The European Union in a changing global environment’ Radical openings and a conservation of EU institutions that privileges modern premises Conclusion and outlook Notes References Part II Conflicts 2 Review of the EU policy for Ukraine Introduction Background of the conflict Sustainability and legitimacy of the Minsk II agreement Understanding causes of the conflict in the East of Ukraine Crimea Internal security conflicts and risks of separatism in other regions Social hardship Corruption Success of conditionality of the IMF program with the new government Conclusions: recommendations for the EU Note References 3 EU in the Western Balkans: hybrid development, hybrid security and hybrid justice Introduction Relational peace-building hybridity and the local turn The outcomes of EU policy in the Western Balkans Conclusion Notes References 4 EU Syria engagement from a human security perspective Introduction Prior to the conflict Moving on: without a strategy The question of legitimacy Contribution to human security Support to civil society and LACs Economic disengagement Conditionality of re-engagement Discussion and conclusion Notes References 5 EU policies in the DR Congo: Misaligned ambitions Introduction The Congo crises EU–DRC policies in a human security framework A flawed EU human security approach in the DRC Human rights protection Restoration of law and order Try and fail? Constraints of the EU security and peace policies in the DRC Conclusion Notes Bibliography 6 A human security strategy for the European Union in the Horn of Africa and Red Sea Introduction Defining the challenge Geographical and historical background A region of unparalleled diversity A poor region, with fast but uneven growth A region defined by geo-strategic concerns A turbulent political marketplace Contested multilateralism and the lack of a security community A human security agenda References Part III Policy arenas 7 Europe’s failed ‘fight’ against irregular migration Introduction Overview: maritime migration in context Mechanisms of ‘failure’ Breaking the vicious cycle Acknowledgements Notes References 8 EU approaches to justice in conflict and transition Introduction The importance of justice Primacy of human rights Bottom-up and regional approaches Conclusions and recommendations References 9 Human security and sanctions, from security to governance: Strengthening EU capacities and involving the locals Introduction Human security and sanctions Overview of EU policy on targeted sanctions EU sanctions and human security A human security perspective on EU sanctions: problems and challenges Conclusion Notes References 10 Cybersecurity: A case for a European approach Introduction Cybersecurity: nature and reality of threats Various actors and motivations The EU’s approach to cybersecurity The specificities of the European cybersecurity policy Conclusion Notes References 11 Private partnerships, public peace: The role of the private sector in second-generation human security Introduction: the policy problem What (and where) is the private sector? The private sector in European security strategy The private sector, hybridity and human security Conclusion References Conclusion: the EU Global Strategy and contemporary conflicts – how much second-generation human security is possible? Introduction Second-generation human security in a nutshell Assessing the EUGS The document What does the EUGS say about the EU’s approach to violent conflicts? The world that the EUGS produces The possibilities for second-generation human security Conclusion Notes References Appendix The Berlin Report of the Human Security Study Group Executive Summary Index