ABSTRACT
Whilst the last chapter discussed how best to define and evaluate success in military conflict management, this chapter will explore how to explain and predict such success—that is, by examining the necessary conditions for it. To this end, the chapter introduces a set of theoretically grounded hypotheses to guide the empirical examination of the conditions for success, which will follow. It is necessary, at the point of departure, to present a few words of caution. The analytical focus here is on the conditions that determine success in EU military conflict management operations. This must not be confused with conditions for the success of overall EU policies towards the countries in question or the successful resolution of the conflicts in which EU forces deploy— neither of which would reflect the purpose of this kind of operation or the notion of success as defined in the previous chapter. Moreover, the enquiry seeks to identify the conditions that are necessary for operations of this kind to succeed, rather than conditions that are simply conducive to their success. These must not be misinterpreted as a recipe for success, however, but rather as a list of ingredients without which success is impossible.
