The EU and Military Operations

Katarina Engberg

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134120338
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

This book is a comparative study which aims to answer the question: under what circumstances does the EU undertake military operations?

Since 2003, the EU has carried out six military operations. What accounts for this historic development? The EU and Military Operations examines the dynamics behind the EU´s collective use of force and situates the EU in the context of a global division of labour with regard to military crisis management. It centres on the study of two main cases of EU military operations: the non-case when an operation was planned in the Lebanon war 2006 but did not occur, and the positive case of EUFOR RD Congo that same year.

Drawing upon these findings, the author creates an innovative analytical framework based upon the techniques of defence planning, and applies this to the cases studies with the purpose of identifying the main driving and inhibiting factors behind the operations. Key findings derived from this analysis include the growing importance of local actors in facilitating or impeding the EU´s deployment of military force and the enhanced role of regional organisations as security providers.

The book will be of much interest to students of European security, EU politics, strategic studies, humanitarian intervention, security studies and IR in general.

1  Introduction

Purpose and overview

The purpose of this study

The academic literature specifically analysing the dynamics behind the EU’s military operations is only in the making. This contrasts to the wealth of academic studies of the dynamics of intra-state or civil war produced since the end of the Cold War, and the development in the defence sector of doctrines for the use of force often applied to precisely these sorts of conflicts. The doctrines summarise lessons learned in operations and reflect the practitioners’ grappling with a complex reality. The dialogue between academia and the practitioners of the defence sector on the relationship between the ways and means of terminating conflicts marked by civil wars, and the use of force in this context, is lacking. This book aims to contribute to a better dialogue between the two.

There are, for sure, many studies of the EU’s Security and Defence Policy, ESDP/CSDP, but they are primarily focused on security policy and political factors, while the ‘D’, as in defence, with its resource implications, is treated lightly. And while there are a number of studies of individual operations, there are few comparative studies that offer more general observations.¹ Some academic studies situate the topic of research in relationship to the domineering schools of thought in political science.² While this book is certainly influenced by concepts from political science and international relations, the purpose is not to identify with any one of them in particular, but rather to use the concepts to produce new knowledge about the dynamics behind military operations. The state of the research reflects in part the fact that the EU’s first military operations occurred only in 2003 in the form of Operation Concordia in Macedonia and Operation Artemis in Congo DRC. They were followed by Operation EUFOR Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, initiated in 2004 and still ongoing, Operation EUFOR RD Congo in 2006, Operation EUFOR Chad/CAR in Chad 2008 and Operation NAVFOR Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden since 2009 and still continuing. Over 20,000 military personnel have altogether served under the EU flag. The novelty of the EU’s military operations and their limited numbers make them convenient objects of study. While the impact of policies often can be difficult to ascertain, military operations offer the advantage of leaving a clear imprint in the form of deployed forces, which make them amenable to study.

There are plenty of books analysing the process of decision-making regarding the use of force, but not much concerning the substance of the decision and the connection between political goals and resource allocation, the latter often treated as ‘a black box’, or simply as the category of ‘capabilities’. The combination of studies of the strategy to be had and the capabilities to ascribe to the specific strategy is a common theme, but these studies are mostly future oriented in their policy prescriptions.³ This study aims to investigate the interaction between ‘ends and means’, or between political goals and resource allocation in military operations conducted by the EU. A particular emphasis shall be put on resource factors.

Moreover, much of the study of the use of force departs from considerations made by a state actor, typically a Western state, while decisions made by collective actors such as the EU attract less interest. This is all the more remarkable since the multilateralisation of intervention has become a dominant feature of international security since the end of the Cold War.

And while the ‘actor’ is the domineering subject of the scholarly research, the ‘target’ of intervention is often treated as an object with little impact on developments. This is an unsatisfactory state of affairs. Introducing the element of interaction between the intervener and the target of intervention is another aim of this study.

To summarise, this book aims to do the following.

First, by introducing the element of interaction between factors that are often treated as separate categories in the scholarly literature, this study will develop an integrated framework of analysis of the dynamics at play in the use of force. Of particular interest is the relationship between the intervener and the target of intervention and between political and resource factors. The research into this area will be supported by concepts derived from the literature on the use of force, intervention and peace and conflict research.

Second, by focusing on the EU as a collective and regional security provider in the context of the multilateralisation of intervention, the study will add to the literature on the use of force by collective security providers in general. Individual European nations are not new to the use of force, but this is the first time that the EU member states have had to make these decisions as part of a collective body. The literature regarding the multilateralisation of intervention, and the role of regional organisations in this regard, will provide scholarly concepts for this part of the study. Conceptual elements from the literature on European security and defence policies will be used to highlight some EU specific features with an emphasis on the ‘D’, as in defence.

In addition, concepts from the literature will be combined with the author’s experience as a practitioner of defence planning in elaborating an Analytical Tool based on the techniques of defence planning that will be applied to case studies of EU military operations. Six cases and three non-cases of military operations will be provided as the bases for identifying the main findings of this study.

If proven useful, the Analytical Tool could be developed further by other scholars and practitioners who want to study the dynamics behind the use of force by collective security providers and may in addition inform the further development of the techniques of defence planning.

Thus, this study can hopefully provide building blocks for the development of a theory regarding the dynamics not only behind the EU’s decisions on the use of force, but that of collective security providers in general.

This is an area of academic interest, but also of direct relevance for policymakers looking for in-depth analysis that can enlighten their decisions on the use of force. This is the wider purpose of this study: to develop knowledge that can help bridge the divide between political decision-makers and practitioners in the defence field.

To achieve this overall aim, this study sets out to answer the following question:

Under what circumstances does the EU undertake military operations?

Of particular interest for the analysis of these circumstances, is the study of the interaction between the intervener and the target of intervention and between political and resource factors. In order to provide a general context for the interplay of these factors, they will be situated in the wider framework of the analysis of the multilateralisation of intervention.

In order to answer this question, central concepts from the literature will be used. The empirical material in the form of cases of EU military operations will be analysed with the help of the Analytical Tool. The findings gained from the cases will be presented and discussed. Conclusions will be drawn and the question will be answered. A discussion about the possible implications for the EU’s military operations, and thoughts about the implications for future research will follow.

Overview of the study

In Chapter 2, the academic literature on the Use of Force and Collective Security will be reviewed against the background of concepts of importance for the topic of this study. The first section on the functional theme, the use of force, consists of two segments, reflecting the two pairs of factors that are central to this study: the relationship between ends and means and between the intervener and the target of intervention. The second, regarding organisational themes, will reflect on the multilateralisation of intervention and the EU’s use of collective force in this context. Political as well as resource factors will be covered in both sections. In the third section, the value, as well as the limits to the scholarly concepts for the analysis of the EU’s military operations will be ascertained. The study proposes to establish a bridge to the study of the EU’s military operations through the use of the techniques of defence planning. The combination of academic concepts and the techniques of defence planning will result in an Analytical Tool that will be used for the analysis of the cases in Chapters 3 to 8. At the end of Chapter 2, some definitions will be given and the background material will be presented.

In Chapters 3 to 8, the cases and non-cases of EU military operations will follow in chronological order, first in the form of analysis and then through the application of the Analytical Tool, which will help select the main driving and inhibiting factors from each case.

Chapter 9 contains a comparative analysis based on the findings derived from all the cases; conclusions are drawn and some thoughts about the implications for research are presented.

Notes

1  For a valuable overview of ESDP, see Grevi et al. (2009).

2  This study shall return to the specifics of this issue later in this section.

3  Ibid.

2 The study of EU military operations

2.1 SEARCHING FOR IDEAS

Introduction

The complexity of the research object at hand has been emphasised in this introduction, as has been the apparent lack of scholarly literature that can provide guidance in the study of the EU’s military operations. The analysis requires both a comprehensive way of thinking about the problem and a method for analysing the empirical material. The two should mirror each other in terms of methodology, albeit applied for different purposes. The object of study situates itself at the nexus of conflict development and decisions made by a collective actor, the EU, regarding the use of force in addressing these conflicts. Conflict dynamics and the collective decision-making by the EU are both complex phenomena, in and of themselves. Combining them makes the exercise even more demanding. Since causal inferences are difficult to determine in general in the analysis of conflict dynamics, systemic theory that offers one overriding explanation is not expected to provide much of a guide (Levy in Crocker et al. 2001).

A scholarly method of analysis should thus possess a flexibility that can help capture multiple causal inferences, while, at the end of the exercise, also enabling us to draw conclusions of explanatory value. A classical level-of-analysis approach (Waltz 1959) provides a good starting point, but it is desirable to move beyond a stale comparison between the relative importance of the respective levels, typically the external versus domestic level, and instead combine causal variables from different analytical levels. The main task is to understand how variables at different levels of analysis interact and to identify the contextual conditions that affect those interactions and draw conclusions on the relative weights of different factors. (Levy in Crocker et al. 2001)

This is not a topic that yields itself easily to the definition of dependent and independent variables. And while it is possible that future research will be able to determine just that, this study aims to disaggregate the dynamics behind the EU’s military operations and then put the pieces together, with the aim of answering the question and providing building blocks for a theory regarding the EU’s collective use of force.

This section, then, searches for building blocks to an analytical framework that can be used to explain the forces that drive or inhibit the EU’s use of military force in particular situations. There is no one single body of scholarly work that is directly applicable to the purpose of this study. It will therefore combine concepts from various currents of thinking and academic work that can be expected to shed light over the dynamics behind the EU’s military operations. The interplay between the intervener and the target of intervention, and between political and resource factors in the context of multilateral organisations, is of particular interest. While the academic literature cannot be expected to provide in-depth analysis of specific military resource factors, some of the political and societal factors are treated in ways that are beneficial to this study. Studies concerning the role of the target of intervention and the relationship between the target and the intervener are in short supply and the existing ones should be properly reflected. The assumption made, is that the EU is subject to the same influences that also affect the ability of other actors to use the military instrument in the management of conflicts. The literature concerning the multilateralisation of intervention is likely to contain concepts of interest to the study of the EU’s military operations.

This search then goes in two different directions of the existing scholarly literature: first, the literature that deals with the functional and general themes of the use of force, which obviously includes the relationship between the intervener and the target, and between political and resources factors, and second, the literature that covers organisational and substantial themes where the resource issues also are found. It is important to note, that the distinction between the functional and the organisational themes do not represent separate entities of the object of study, the EU’s military operations, but rather serve as two different entrances into the investigation of the same object.

Thus the Chapter is organised in the following way:

Functional themes: the use of force

• ends and means

• the intervener and the target of intervention.

Organisational themes: collective security

• the multilateralisation of intervention

• the EU’s collective use of force.

The various layers of literature will take us from the general functional theme (the use of force in the management of conflicts), to the role of the EU as a collective and regional security provider of military force in the context of the global system, or of society. (Bull 1984)

Functional themes: the use of force

The literature regarding the first functional theme, the use of force, represents a rather distinct body of scholarly work, albeit comprised of and overlapping with different currents. There is, for example, the vast literature pertaining to the field of strategic studies that has certainly influenced this study. The title...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The study of EU military operations
• 3 The first operations
• 4 The non-case of the Lebanon war 2006
• 5 Operation EUFOR RD Congo 2006
• 6 Comparing the two main cases: the Lebanon war and Operation EUFOR RD Congo
• 7 Sahel and Congo DRC, again
• 8 The Horn of Africa, Northern Africa, Sahel and the Levant (?)
• 9 Comparative analysis and conclusions
• Appendix 1: Chronology: Lebanon war, June–October 2006
• Appendix 2: Chronology: Operation EUFOR RD Congo, July–November 2006
• References
• Index