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Security and defence

The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is an integral part of EU foreign policy. Through its military operations and civilian missions, the EU has contributed to regional and global stability. Since it's inception, the CSDP has responded to a shifting regional security context. It has played a vital role in crisis management in the EU's near and wider neighbourhood but it is also an essential part of the EU's broader approach to the protection of Europe and capacity building.

Although the Lisbon Treaty consolidated the EU's crisis management apparatus, the EU Global Strategy has set a new level of ambition for EU defence. In addition to the CSDP playing an operational role in the EU's integrated approach to crises, the EU Global Strategy has stressed the need for the EU to become a more capable and effective defence actor. Initiatives such as the European Defence Fund, the coordinated annual defence review (CARD) and more coherent financing for EU operations and capacity building efforts are all aimed at supporting the EU's strategic autonomy and the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base. The EUISS continues to support the development of CSDP through outreach activities and expert publications.

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    11May 2011

    While the current focus of EU foreign policy is firmly trained on its southern neighbourhood, this paper explains why the EU should not forget about the long-simmering disputes in its Eastern neighbourhood – disputes which might once again require EU responses in the future.

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    04April 2011
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    The CSDP newsletter aims to give its readers an insight into ongoing work on CSDP development and on crisis management missions. In this current issue, articles on security sector, reform gender activities, Somalia, the EDA and the EU and NATO's future.

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    10March 2011

    Can internal and foreign policy actors develop a shared understanding of European security challenges? What are the political and institutional challenges in establishing a ‘holistic’ approach towards European security? The author argues that the EU can strengthen its existing coordination mechanisms by exploiting the possibilities offered by the Lisbon Treaty.

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    14February 2011

    In November 2010 France and Britain embarked on a new era of defence cooperation. Why did they do so? How will it work? And what impact will it have on wider European defence cooperation? In the first in-depth analysis of its kind, the author explores these questions in detail and looks at how Franco-British cooperation can be of benefit to all European states.

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    20December 2010

    Advocates of disarmament have long maintained that non-conventional weapons are so destabilising to international peace and security that they should be eliminated altogether. This policy brief provides an overview of the disarmament question and examines how it is entering a new phase in a radical new context of globalisation and rapid technology diffusion.

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    01November 2010

    The future of NATO is of paramount importance for EU foreign policy. Yet no official EU perspective has been publicly formulated on NATO’s 2010 strategic concept, or how it should complement the EU’s foreign and security policies. This report is a contribution to the debate about NATO’s future, and what that may mean for the EU.

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    23August 2010
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    Among the features in this issue:

    training of Somali soldiers in Uganda and counter piracy in the Gulf of Aden, the Lisbon Treaty and the new ground for CSDP, and the EU's response to the Haiti earthquake.

    The cover story takes us to the EU training mission for Somalia and EUNAVFOR-Atalanta.

    The newsletter also focuses on EULEX

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    09August 2010

    The EU has placed a growing emphasis on human rights issues in its civilian crisis management operations over the years, in turn creating operational challenges far beyond what has previously been experienced. This paper uses EUPOL and EUJUST LEX as a yardstick for examining the operational models used by the EU and their implications in a human rights perspective.

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    13July 2010

    In this quarter's issue of the newsletter, EUISS director Álvaro de Vasconcelos writes about Europe's need to continue impressing its brand of multilateral governance. Guest author Srdjan Dizdarevic; suggests that for BiH to move faster towards the EU, civil society is key in pushing the country's politicians for faster reforms. EUISS Senior Research Fellow Giovanni Grevi explores the future of global governance amidst the shifts in power away from the EU and the US and toward emerging countries.

  • 13July 2010

    This first seminar in the 'Unfinished business in Europe' series focused on the Western Balkans and Turkey with a particular emphasis on securing and stablising Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia.

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