The European Union And Human Security

This edited book examines European external interventions in human security, in order to illustrate the evolution and nature of the European Union as a global political actor. In 2003, the EU deployed its first external mission under the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) with a military force to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Since then it has instigated over 18 civilian and military missions to deal with humanitarian crises all over the world. This book presents a series of eight case studies of external interventions by the EU covering the Balkans, Africa, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Indonesia, to illustrate the nature of the EU as a global actor. Using the concept of human security to assess the effectiveness of these missions in meeting the EU’s aim of being a ‘force for good in the world’, this study addresses two key issues: the need for an empirical assessment of EU foreign and security policies based on EU intervention in conflict and post-conflict situations and the idea of 'human security' and how this is applied in European foreign policy. This book will be of great interest to students of European Security, EU politics, human security, post-conflict reconstruction, and IR in general. Mary Kaldor is Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Prior to this she worked at Sussex University as Jean Monnet Reader in Contemporary European Studies. Mary Martin is a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance, the London School of Economics. From 2006-2009 she was co-ordinator of the Human Security Study Group. She was formerly a foreign correspondent and European editor for The Daily Telegraph and Guardian newspapers.

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.

Apart from the Study Group's Barcelona Report, it contains fifteen studies especially commissioned by the Study Group to help develop its approach."--Jacket.

This article examines the potential of human security as a narrative and operational frame for the European Union's external relations. Human security is about the security of individuals and communities and it links physical and material security freedom from fear, and freedom from want. The article addresses both the lexis (language) and praxis (practice)of human security in relation to the EU. Much of the language currently used in EU external relations, particularly crisis management, civil military cooperation and conflict management, already contains elements of a human security approach. At the same time, the concept of human security goes beyond these terms and if formally adopted and elaborated could greatly strengthen the EU's role as a global security actor. The article develops five principles of human security human rights, legitimate political authority, multi-lateralism and regional focus and makes the case that the application of these principles would increase the coherence, effectiveness and visibility of EU missions. The article concludes that the adoption of a human security approach would build on the foundational ideas of Europe in overcoming a history of war and imperialism and could help to rally public opinion behind the European idea. More importantly, it would contribute to closing the real security vacuum that exists in large parts of the world today.

This book examines how national security strategies relate to an emerging common European or global vision of security, and to human security ideas. Human security and national security are often regarded as competing and mutually antagonistic; the former was proposed and has been operationalised in ways which represent a paradigm shift away from state-centric approaches and the dominance of national-security perspectives. This has led to human security being associated with a broadening of the security agenda to encompass not only physical security, the use of force and military capabilities, but also the provision of material well-being and dignity to vulnerable communities. This edited volume seeks to identify key concepts and themes in the national discourse of several European countries, addressing security at a meta-narrative and conceptual level, illustrating the changes taking place in approaches to security, and in particular, mapping moves away from a paradigm of 'national security' to one which might be called 'human security'. It also enables an assessment of whether national security is currently converging at either European or global levels. This book will be of much interest to students of human security, European politics, discourse analysis, war and conflict studies, and IR/security studies in general.

This volume elaborates on the EU report A Human Security Doctrine for Europe, adding an engaging discussion of international legal consequences and operational demands in the European Union’s quest for domestic security. Introducing the concept of “Human Security from Below,” the editors highlight how people in war-torn countries have no choice but to create their own security arrangements. But such structures, surprisingly, are not unique to war zones, the contributors reveal—human security initiatives from below occur in even the most stable Western countries. Arguing that human security as a concept only makes sense if it covers both foreign and domestic policy concerns, The Viability of Human Security offers concise insights on this largely neglected topic.

This book examines the management of migratory flows in the Mediterranean within an international security perspective. The intense migratory flows registered during the year 2015 and the tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea have tested the mechanisms of the Union’s immigration and asylum policies and its ability to respond to humanitarian crises. Moreover, these flows of varying intensities and geographies represent a threat to the internal security of the EU and its member states. By using Spain and Italy as case studies, the author theorizes that the EU, given its inability to adopt and implement a common policy to effectively manage migratory flows on its Southern border, uses a deterrence strategy based on minimum common denominators.

The concept of human security is a new approach to security that focuses on the individual human being and provides policy alternatives to the traditional state-centred view, which considers the state to be the only and ultimate referent of security. Formally introduced into the United Nations system in 1994 the concept’s intellectual roots draw from international humanitarian law, human rights and human development, and since its introduction human security has been progressively integrated into the international security discourse. Mainstreaming Human Security: Policies, Problems, Potential paints a comprehensive picture of the relevance of the concept of human security in practice in a time of changing security paradigms and a challenging international environment. This volume looks at the practical implications of mainstreaming human security. It focuses on the potential, problems and policies of human security in peace operations and crisis management operations of the United Nations and of the European Union. Topics addressed by the contributors include mainstreaming human rights and human security in peace and crisis management in general and the role of human security in the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, security sector reform, restorative responses to human rights violations by peacemakers, human security in Serbia and in African peace operations as well as proposals for human security training. The contributions to the book focus equally on mainstreaming human security in the UN and in the EU context. The global issues discussed and conclusions drawn are of relevance for the future of security addressed by peace and crisis management operations all over the world.