EU security actorness : case-studies from the greater Middle East

Abstract

In the post-Second World War environment, as Western Europe shared its economic resources, superpower patronage destabilised post-colonial areas, as exemplified in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Meanwhile, as the EC enlarged, European Political Cooperation emerged. The 1980 Venice declaration saw the EC's (then) nine members support Palestinian self-determination; a foreign policy milestone in what was still an economic union. Nevertheless, the unanticipated post-cold war milieu necessitated a more robust response from the EU as it strove for crisis management capabilities, ultimately resulting in the European Security and Defence Policy. As this paper will elucidate, the European Union utilises an innovative mixture of norm transmission, economic cooperation and civilian-oriented crisis management capabilities, proving to be a considerable multifunctional security actor. Thus the purpose of this thesis to illustrate aspects of EU security-actorness; with Israel/Palestine, Iraq and Morocco as case-studies. Despite much-deserved criticisms and intergovernmental restraints, the EU attempts to ensure security in the Palestinian Territories, involving itself in one of the most complex conflicts. In Iraq the EU's contribution to training authorities helps the country's reconstruction within a consensus that was lacking in the run-up to the invasion. Morocco, on the other hand, offers an example of EU security actorness via economic development and cooperation directly on its borders.