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Abstract
European Union (EU) interventions in conflict countries tend to focus on governance reforms of political and economic frameworks instead of the geopolitical context or the underlying power asymmetries that fuel conflict. They follow a liberal pattern often associated with northern donors and the UN system more generally. The EU's approach diverges from prevalent governance paradigms mainly in its engagement with social, identity and socio-economic exclusion. This article examines the EU's ‘peace-as-governance’ model in Cyprus, Georgia, Palestine and Bosnia and Herzegovina. These cases indicate that a tense and contradictory strategic situation may arise from an insufficient redress of underlying conflict issues.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the European Union for sponsoring this research. This article is based on research carried out for a project entitled ‘The Role of Governance in the Resolution of Socioeconomic and Political Conflict in India and Europe’ (CORE). It has been funded by the Socio-economic Sciences & Humanities in the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 266931.
Notes on contributors
Sandra Pogodda is a Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manchester.
Oliver Richmond is a Research Professor at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, and the Department of Politics, Manchester University, UK. He is also International Professor, School of International Studies, Kyung Hee University, Korea.
Nathalie Tocci is Deputy Director of the Instituto Affari Internazionali, Rome, and Editor of The International Spectator.
Roger Mac Ginty is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, and the Department of Politics, University of Manchester. With Oliver Richmond, he edits the journal Peacebuilding.
Birte Vogel is a PhD candidate at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at the University of Manchester.
Notes
1. For an overview of the three waves of Europeanisation literature, see Treib (Citation2008).
2. Administrative, legal and security sector reforms are all part of the statebuilding package since they are mutually dependent (Hendrickson and Karzoszka, p. 24).
3. For a distinction between the concepts of statebuilding, peacebuilding and liberal peace: see Richmond and Franks (Citation2009, Citation2011, pp. 181–183).
4. In the EU's 2003 security strategy the European Council defines ‘bad governance’ as corruption, the abuse of power, weak institutions and the lack of accountability (Council of the EU 2003, p. 4).
5. Interview, UN PBSO, New York, February 7, 2012; see also Suhrke (Citation2011).
6. Estimates suggests that the aid earmarked for good governance-related projects increased from €2 billion (out of €10 billion development aid) in the funding period 2002–2007 to €2.7 billion between 2007 and 2013 (Commission of the EC Citation2003a, Gourlay Citation2009).
7. See the greed and grievance debate.
8. Ivan Martin argues for the case of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership that the adjustment costs of less competitive economies far outweigh the vague prospects of future growth, see Martin (Citation2004).
9. Prospective members have to implement the acquis communautaire, containing more than 80,000 regulations, directions and laws (Miller Citation2011).
10. Renegotiating these power-sharing arrangements, however, might unravel the negative peace and unleash renewed violent competition over power between ethnic factions.
11. For Bosnia-Herzegovina: see Pajíc (Citation1998, p. 136).
12. The PLO, Israel and Lebanon participated in the Barcelona Process and the Neighbourhood Policy at the time of the conflicts. However, some partner countries boycotted multilateral conferences rather than used them as platforms for conflict resolution.
13. Interview with EU official, Cyprus, 1 March 2012.
14. The recent layoff of EU-trained Cypriot public servants and their later replacement with Turkish employees (unskilled in EU law) suggests that Turkey as the TRNC's major geopolitical supporter boycotts reunification as a conflict resolution strategy (Interview: EU official, 1 March 2012).
15. Interview: Georgian economist, 7 March 2012.
16. After securing $4.5bn from the IMF the Saakashvili government might have lost its interest in a conditional Association Agreement with the EU (Georgian economist 7 March 2012).
17. Interview with Georgian economist, 7 March 2012.
18. Georgia secured funding from the IMF in September 2008 and $4.5bn in post-war donor aid in October 2008 (Georgian economist 7 March 2012).
19. Technically the whole island became part of the EU. Since the Greek Cypriot government does not exercise control over the territory of the TRNC though, EU legislation is suspended in line with Protocol 10 of the Accession Treaty 2003. Hence, the North remains outside the customs and fiscal territory of the EU.
20. Council Regulation (EC) No 389/2006 of 27 February 2006 ‘establishing an instrument of financial support for encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community’ page 2, online at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:065:0005:0008:EN:PDF
21. Suggestions to negotiate via third country regulation have been opposed by the Republic of Cyprus, arguing that the TRNC does not exit as a separate legal entity and thus cannot enter legal agreements.
22. Interview: European diplomat, 1 March 2012.
23. Interview EU official, 26 April 2012.
24. EU sponsorship comes with a ‘sunset clause’, stating that if projects are not implemented within three years, earmarked funding will be withdrawn (interview EU official, 26 April 2012).
25. Interview: Palestinian NGO employee, March 2102.
26. Interviews with representatives of municipality Trnovo (RS) and municipality Trnovo (FBiH), 10 May 2012, Trnovo. Thanks to Elena Stavreska for making this argument.
27. Interview with Georgian academic 9 March 2012.
28. At the moment, conditional agreements with the EU might not be appealing for the Saakashvili government since Georgia secured funding from the IMF in September 2008 and $4.5 billion in post-war donor aid in October 2008 (Georgian economist 7 March 2012).
29. This evaluation is based on Ruth Benedict's definition of culture as a ‘more or less consistent pattern of thought and action’ (Benedict Citation1934).