European Approaches to United Nations Peacekeeping ― Towards a Stronger Re-engagement?

This edited volume provides a comprehensive analysis of European approaches to United Nations peacekeeping by assessing past practice, present obstacles and future potentials related to nine core European countries’ contributions to blue helmet operations. By providing in-depth case studies on Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, this book offers an evaluation of European approaches as well as a wide range of facilitating and constraining factors related to the above mentioned countries’ future involvement in UN peacekeeping. The book places particular emphasis on the recent involvement of European countries in the UN operation in Mali (MINUSMA) and explores to what extent this experience might lead to further marked increases of European supplies of troops and capabilities and thus a broader ‘European return’ to UN peacekeeping. Each chapter offers an up-to-date case study on key countries’ policies, challenges and opportunities for a stronger re-engagement in UN Peacekeeping It provides a comprehensive analysis of the main challenges and concrete ways ahead for overcoming institutional, political, financial and military obstacles (both at European capitals and within the UN system) on the path towards a stronger re-engagement of European troop contributing countries in the field of UN Peacekeeping. Furthermore, each chapter includes a set of policy-relevant recommendations for future ways ahead. The chapters in this book were originally published in International Peacekeeping.

Joachim A. Koops is Dean of Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Research Professor for European Foreign and Security Policy at the VUB’s Institute for European Studies as well as Founding Director of the Global Governance Institute (GGI).

Giulia Tercovich is Erasmus Mundus Fellow at GEM PhD School in Globalization, the EU and Multilateralism at the University of Warwick (UK) and the Universitei Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). She is also Senior Analyst in the Peace and Security Section at the Global Governance Institute (GGI).