In January 2011 the people of South Sudan will vote on whether to secede from the North. Violence is expected to follow. The EU must start preparing now for an intervention in Sudan if it is to have any chance of being ready to help.

The EU has had to withdraw its election observers from Darfur before the upcoming Sudanese election. No surprise there: Darfur remains a dangerous place. But what why did the EU get involved in this controversial poll in the first place?

Attention turns once again to Sri Lanka this week as the country gears up for its parliamentary elections. The EU recently decided to stop treating Sri Lanka as a preferential trading partner. What does this mean for Sri Lanka, and does it affect the EU?s clout in standing up for human rights around the world?

Does it really matter whether Catherine Ashton's travel plans include Haiti, Gaza or an erupting Icelandic volcano? There must be more insightful analysis, and less idle gossip, in press coverage of EU attempts to forge a common foreign policy

Daniel Korski et Richard Gowan sur la strat?gie de s?curit? civilo-militaire de l?UE. L?Europe peut-elle passer de la rh?torique ? l?action?

The Munich Security Conference was once again at the centre of foreign policy discussion, but Europe was an intellectual absentee

Whether Bulgaria's Rumiana Jeleva is the right person for the EU's humanitarian job or not, Haiti's catastrophic earthquake shows just how badly Europe needs someone to coordinate humanitarian assistance.

Pity the poor Sri Lankan voter. As presidential elections loom on Jan. 26, the public is faced with a choice between two candidates who openly accuse each other of war crimes.

Terrorists plots and embassy shut-downs: Yemen received a lot of media attention over the New Year period. But now action, including by the EU, must replace the headlines.

The EU?s new policy statement on Israel and Palestine is pretty good. Now Europe needs to use it ? and the money poured into Palestine ? as the basis for real change.

Twenty years on, the chessboard is shaking once again.

No one seems to care about 1989 anymore.

Europe?s biggest challenge in coming decades is how it will get along with the Islamic world.

Prospect Magazine blog post on our latest report - A review of Europe's civilian capacities.

The EU has a disturbing ?lack of capacity? when it comes to state building and crisis missions. The EU and its member states need to stand up to help prevent fragile states turning into failed states.