Since the end of the Cold War, numerous conflicts have emerged within the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian space which have affected international relations and highlighted the need for effective strategies for conflict resolution and management. This book presents papers delivered at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW), Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Conflict Management, held in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, in June 2015. The authors of these texts are recognized authorities within their fields of expertise. Issues raised by the conflict in Ukraine were the main focus of the workshop, as they are of this book, but it also contains valuable information about situations in other countries such as the Republic of Moldova, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Belarus. The book presents an analysis of the theoretical background of conflict management and its relevance for multilateral security institutions. It explores various approaches to conflict management, discusses possible future developments, examines new aspects of conflict resolution and outlines the role of international organizations and civil society in these processes. Providing an overview of current thought in the field, this book will be of interest to all those involved in or connected with the processes of conflict management and resolution.

Conflict prevention and crisis management has become a key activity for the EU since the creation of the Common Security and Defence Policy in 1999. The rapid growth of this policy area, as well as the number of missions deployed beyond the EU’s border raise important questions about the nature of the EU’s international role and its contribution to international security. The Contributions to EU Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management analyze European conflict prevention and crisis management in terms of the EU’s evolving global role, its institutions and its policies. The volume analyzes the EU’s position in relation to the US, the UN and other regional security organizations, and applies three different institutionalist perspectives – historical, rational choice and sociological institutionalism - to explain the increasing institutionalization of EU crisis management. It also critically analyzes the application of EU policies in West Africa, Afghanistan and the Caucasus. Providing a comprehensive analysis of EU crisis management, the volume explores what role EU conflict prevention and crisis management plays in a European and a global context. Offering a comprehensive and original contribution to the literature on EU foreign and security policy, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, international relations and security studies.

This innovative and timely consideration of the European Union’s crisis response mechanisms brings together scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds to examine how and why the EU responds to crises on its borders and further afield. The work is based on extensive fieldwork in – among other places – Afghanistan, Libya, Mali and Iraq. The book considers the construction of crises and how some issues are deemed crises and others not. A major finding from this comparative study is that EU crisis response interventions have been placing increasing emphasis on security and stabilisation and less emphasis on human rights and democratisation. This changes – quite fundamentally – the EU’s stance as an international actor and leads to questions about the nature of the European Union and how it perceives itself and is perceived by others.

External interventions to mitigate crises or end conflicts have rarely succeeded. The EU and its member states, in particular, have repeatedly run up against their limits in the civil wars in Afghanistan, the Congo, Libya, Syria, the Sahel region and Yemen. However, the EU – if not the entire international community – have learned one lesson from their faltering peacebuilding efforts: If they are to have any chance of making a meaningful and lasting difference, they must develop and use comprehensive strategies that combine and coordinate the various tools available to diplomacy, development cooperation and security. The 29 reports presented in this book – one for each EU member state as well as one on the EU as a whole – examine how steep the learning curve has been and, accordingly, how successful these bodies have been at forming new linkages among the various actors involved in external crisis and conflict management as well as within and between their institutions and organisations. While the EU clearly still has a long way to go before it can live up to its rhetoric and become a distinct and effective actor on the foreign policy stage, small and incremental steps in reorganising institutional practise may help in narrowing the gap between words and deeds. This volume provides examples of how the EU and its member states have found new organisational structures and procedures – specifically at the headquarters level – to better organise the necessary combination and coordination of the many tools available for crisis and conflict management. These ways are then juxtaposed in a 'big picture' chapter, which also identifies best practices for successful WGA implementation.

Die Aufgaben und Aktivitäten der Organisation für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit in Europa von der Konfliktverhütung und Krisenbewältigung über die Förderung von Demokratie und Menschenrechten bis zu regionaler Rüstungskontrolle – wissenschaftliche Analysen und Berichte aus der politischen und diplomatischen Praxis.

This open access book features various studies on democratization, transformation, socio-economic development, and security issues in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) geographical region and beyond. Written by experts and scholars working in the field of human dimension, security, transformation and development in Europe and Asia, particularly in post-soviet and communist countries, it examines the connectivity that the OSCE provides between the East and the West. The 2021 edition of this Compilation Series of the OSCE Academy presents studies on peace and conflict as well as political regime development in various member states of the OSCE as well as their economic, security and human rights performance and the challenges countries and society face currently. The OSCE is working in promoting Human Rights and Democratization under the notion of Human Dimension of ODIHR and is enhancing securitization and development policies in Eurasia, Europe, Central Asia and North America since 1991. 2021 marks the 30th anniversary on the tremendous efforts in promoting democracy, security and development. This compilation reviews some of these efforts in light of this anniversary, the achievements and shortcomings.

It is often argued that the enhanced consultation of civil society contributes to the democratization of European and global governance. This collection investigates whether this theoretical argument is supported by empirical evidence. Ten original essays analyze current patterns of civil society consultation in 32 intergovernmental organizations.

This book constitutes the first comprehensive publication on the duty of care of internationalorganizations towards their civilian personnel sent on missions and assignments outsideof their normal place of activity. While the work of the civilian personnel of internationalorganizations often carries an inherent risk, the regulations, policies and practices of theemployer can help to address and mitigate that risk. In this book, the specific content and scope of the duty of care under international law is clarifiedby conducting an unprecedented investigation into relevant jurisprudence and legal sources.Included is a critical assessment of the policies of selected international organizations while aset of guiding principles on the duty of care of international organizations is also presented. This publication fills a gap in the existing academic literature on the topic and is aimedparticularly at academics and practitioners interested in the legal implications of the deploymentof civilian personnel abroad by international organizations. This includes scholarsand university-level students specializing in international law, international human rightslaw, the law of international organizations, labour law, EU law, international administrativelaw and the UN system, and practitioners, such as lawyers and consultants, representing oradvising international organizations or their personnel on the legal aspects of deployment. The book is also aimed at the senior management of international organizations and at theirofficers in charge of recruitment, human resources, training and security, in that it clarifiestheir legal obligations and provides concrete examples of the policies various internationalorganizations have in place for the protection of civilian personnel. Current and prospectivecivilian personnel of international organizations should also find the book useful forclarifying their rights and duties. Andrea de Guttry is Full Professor at the Dirpolis Institute of the Sant’Anna School ofAdvanced Studies in Pisa, Micaela Frulli is Associate Professor at the Dipartimento di ScienzeGiuridiche (DSG), University of Florence, Edoardo Greppi is Full Professor at the Dipartimentodi Giurisprudenza, University of Turin, and Chiara Macchi is Research Fellow at theDirpolis Institute of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa.

The field of peacemaking is in turbulent change. There are more peacemaking actors than before but fewer success stories, and an increasing number of violent conflicts tend to resist negotiated agreements. Tools and practices created for traditional inter- and intra-state conflicts have become ineffective and revision of old mediation practices is called for. This book examines how the private peacemaking organisations have faced this challenge. In the 21st century, private peacemakers have become a central part of peace diplomacy and have appeared as flexible actors whose innovative thinking paves the way for reconsidering and reinventing old practices of mediation. Instead of emphasizing the act of resolution, a new emphasis is given to the transformation of violence into a peace system, the complexity of conflict and the inadequateness of rational management. Furthermore, this shift has brought civic society actors from the field of reconciliation to the field of peace mediation. This new pragmatic approach under development can be called dialogic mediation.