Introduction

How to successfully manage violent conflict remains one of the most pressing problems in international relations. It is an age-old challenge, but in recent years new actors have started to embark on it. One such player that has become increasingly engaged in conflict management is the European Union (EU). The Union launched its first military conflict management operations in 2003. Since then its endeavors in this realm have developed rapidly in terms of both the number and nature of its operations, tasks and capabilities. At the time of writing the EU had launched five military conflict management operations within the framework of its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). ¹ These operations were intended to help facilitate the management of conflicts in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the tri-border area between Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR). This book examines their success. The purpose of this undertaking is two-fold: initially, to take stock of the EU’s first decade as a military conflict manager; and subsequently, to examine the necessary conditions for success in past, present and future operations of this kind.