CDE4Peace

In the first phase of the conflict and peace study – related CDE4Peace project, a desk review of strategic and operational concepts has been carried out. The review of these concepts focussed on three of the most important EU peace-related approaches – resilience, conflict sensitivity and the ‘whole-of-society’ concept. The review also examined the practical concepts of three EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions – EULEX Kosovo, EUTM Mali and EUBAM Libya.

In the first phase of CDE4Peace, a desk review of strategic and operational concepts in the EU’s policy area of conflict prevention and peace-building has been carried out. The review of strategic concepts focussed on three of the most important EU peace-related concepts:

• resilience and the integrated approach; 
• conflict sensitivity and 
• the ‘whole-of-society’ concept. 

A critical-constructive approach has been applied in order to explore and analyse the maturity level of the selected concepts. The main features of strategic concepts in EU peace-building have been extracted for a potential application in quantitative research. Also, a method for decomposing strategic concepts into quantifiable variables by means of peace indicators has been elaborated. The results from the review of strategic concepts are presented in CDE4Peace D3.1 Working paper on strategic concepts [1].  

The review of operational concepts in EU conflict prevention and peace-building examined the operational concepts of three EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions:

• EULEX Kosovo;
• EUTM Mali and 
• EUBAM Libya. 

The missions have been selected to provide diversity of the operational concepts’ review in terms of mission goals, mandates and geographical locations. The operational concepts’ review is based on an analysis of publicly available primary and secondary sources (EU Council Decisions, official web-sites, case study reports, databases, media publications etc.). The concept scoping shows that mandates are pivotal in operational concepts and they could be measured by peace indicators. The proposed quantification method can serve as a specific form of scientific control over EU policy-making in the area of EU conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The results from the review of operational concepts are presented in CDE4Peace D3.2 Working paper on operational concepts [2]. 

The project has also produced two Policy Briefs on topical issues in the area of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy. Policy Brief no.1 – A CSDP mission in Syria? – makes the case for a focussed EU mission in Syria under the CSDP with two primary objectives: Counter-terrorism capacity building and information gathering on foreign fighters [3]. Policy Brief no.2 – Strategic autonomy for the masses – seeks to find ways for involving the common people of Europe in forging the EU’s common policies for peace and security [4]. The focus of the analysis is on the concept of strategic autonomy which has been gaining traction in Europe over the last years. The Policy Brief argues that a participatory experiment on strategic autonomy through an EU-wide referendum is needed to enhance the credibility and the popular appeal of this EU policy area.     

References

[1] Pavlov, Nikolay. CDE4Peace D3.1 Working paper on strategic concepts, Vienna: SYNYO GmbH, November 2020. 

[2] Pavlov, Nikolay. CDE4Peace D3.2 Working paper on operational concepts, Vienna: SYNYO GmbH, December 2020.  

[3] Pavlov, Nikolay. “A CSDP mission in Syria?” (CDE4Peace Policy Brief no.1), Vienna: SYNYO GmbH, March 2021.  

[4] Pavlov, Nikolay. “Strategic autonomy for the masses” (CDE4Peace Policy Brief no.2), Vienna: SYNYO GmbH, April 2021.  

Links

CDE4Peace website: https://www.cde4peace.eu/ 

PeaceTraining.eu platform, News section: https://www.peacetraining.eu/category/news/ 

Keywords

Concept development and experimentation, EU conflict prevention and peace-building, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), EU missions and operations