The EU and Conflict Resolution: Promoting Peace in the Backyard

Through the study of five ethno-political conflicts lying on or just beyond Europe's borders, this book analyzes the impact and effectiveness of EU foreign policy on conflict resolution. Conflict resolution features strongly as an objective of the European Union's foreign policy. In promoting this aim, the EU's geographical focus has rested primarily in its beleaguered backyard to the south and to the east. Taking a strong comparative approach, Nathalie Tocci explores the principal determinants of conflict dynamics in Cyprus, Turkey, Serbia-Montenegro, Israel-Palestine and Georgia in order to assess the impact of EU contractual ties on them. The volume includes topical analyzis based on first-hand experience, in-depth interviews with all the relevant actors and photography in ongoing conflict areas in the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans and the Caucasus. This revealing study shows that the gap between EU potential and effectiveness often rests in the specific manner in which the EU collectively chooses to conduct its contractual relations.1. Introduction 2. The EU’s Role in Conflict Resolution: A Framework of Analysis 3. The Missed Opportunity to Promote Reunification in Cyprus 4. Ebbs and Flows in the Europeanization of Turkey’s Kurdish Question 5. Mixed Signals to Serbia and Montenegro 6. The Glaring Gap between Rhetoric and Reality in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 7. Caught Between Neglect and Competing Mediation in Georgia’s Secessionist Conflicts 8. Comparing the EU’s Role in Neighbourhood Conflicts 9. Conclusion