Abstract

Despite initial misgivings about the value of creating civilian crisis management capacities from the EU’s largest member states, history has been on the side of the Nordic states that pushed for an EU capacity to deploy civilians on missions in the framework of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP, now CSDP). The development of civilian CSDP since 1999 has coincided with a rise in demand for assistance for the development of the rule of law sectors, especially in states recovering from war. The EU’s civilian monitoring missions in Aceh and Georgia have also demonstrated the utility of relatively small, unarmed missions in providing effective support to the implementation of a peace agreement. At the same time, it has been relatively easier to secure support from EU member states for civilian missions, which tend to be less expensive, less dangerous and less controversial than military ones. Indeed, while the West’s military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have cast a shadow of doubt in many EU states over the compatibility of military deployments with peace-building objectives, there is rising appreciation of the importance of state-building for consolidating peace and fostering development.