The European Council on Foreign Relations

Don’t write off the Arab League in Syria ... yet

2012-01-10T11:35:10+00:00

On Sunday, the Arab League agreed to continue its controversial observer mission in Syria. In this piece, originally published by Foreign Policy two days before the League meeting, Richard Gowan makes the case for keeping the mission going.

How not to intervene in Syria

2011-12-02T13:59:33+00:00

The hunt is on for ways to offer security and aid to Syrian civilians, but the risk of any military-humanitarian mission backfiring is high. The lessons of Darfur are that any peacekeepers would be targeted, especially as the unrest turns into full-scale war.

Now is not the time to give up on the UN

2011-09-28T09:57:12+00:00

Many analysts will see last week's debate over the Palestinian bid for recognition at the UN as yet another example of Western decline. Yet the reality is more complex. Cracks are emerging between non-Western powers at the UN, presenting opportunities for Europe – if the EU's member states can get their act together.

Gowan Eu peacekeepers for Libya

2011-08-31T10:52:03+00:00

In the wake of Gaddafi's fall, American commentators have been keen to urge that any peacekeeping operation in Libya is a primarily European one. Yet there are serious potential problems with this approach – not least that Libya's new leaders have declared their opposition to the idea of any foreign boots on their soil.

Can the EU do less good in the world?

2011-07-25T08:49:15+00:00

Understandably, European governments are rethinking their aid budgets in the light of the economic crisis. But any cuts to aid and foreign ministry budgets should be judged according to results rather than a simple cost calculation.

The EU and Libya: Missing in action in Misrata

2011-05-31T13:36:01+00:00

The European Union needs to learn the lessons from the past as it wrestles with using military support to underpin its humanitarian assistance in Libya. This will allow it to develop more credible intervention forces for future crisis - ones that might actually work.

South Sudan & Palestine could heat up the UN’s summer

2011-05-25T09:46:00+00:00

The reputation of the UN and Ban Ki-moon may hinge upon the outcome in two of the world's trouble spots - South Sudan and Palestine. South Sudan in particular remains a crucial test of the institution's ability to handle weak states.

Muslim Peacekeepers in Libya: Brothers in Arms?

2011-05-04T07:50:54+00:00

In 1987, Muammar Gaddafi proposed an Islamic peacekeeping force to end the Iran-Iraq war. Could a mainly Muslim force now keep the peace in his own country?

The Scramble for Europe

2011-04-18T08:47:24+00:00

The European Union’s introspection in world affairs, and its shrinking ability to influence the outside world, does not mean that the outside world will leave it alone. Rising powers might soon be racing to invest in Europe, and shape its politics to suit their needs.

Ban Ki-moon’s lessons for Catherine Ashton

2011-04-11T13:19:16+00:00

The UN's secretary-general and the EU's foreign policy chief have similar predecessors, styles and priorities – and a common need to find a voice.

Securing a Political Resolution to the Libyan Crisis

2011-04-04T12:52:10+00:00

A military solution to the Libyan crisis is unlikely, and even the most ardent members of the anti-Gaddafi coalition now accept the need to talk to his regime as part of an attempt to secure a negotiated settlement. Any Western-flagged peacekeeping mission, including one under an EU banner, now seems unlikely to be welcomed, and so diplomats at the UN should be discussing alternative options.

Can Diplomacy Work in Libya?

2011-03-10T08:44:53+00:00

Outside mediators may eventually play a key role in ending the Libyan civil war, and if there is even a brief opportunity to talk Gaddafi into standing down, the international community must be ready to seize it. It should be thinking about who is best placed to do the talking.

Will the EU Win Glory on the Shores of Tripoli?

2011-03-09T14:14:09+00:00

Western military planners are examining options for deposing Gaddafi. But somebody also needs to think about an international peace operation to stabilise Libya, whether to oversee the dictator's negotiated exit or clean up afterwards. Could this be a role for a UN-mandated EU?

Rebuilding Libya

2011-02-23T15:45:55+00:00

Libya is in chaos, and Colonel Gaddafi seems determined to hang on to power at any expense. But he has already lost control of large swathes of the country, the security forces and bureaucracy, and it is not premature to start planning for a post-Gaddafi Libya.

Post-colonial Europe

2011-02-16T09:03:52+00:00

The crises in Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia have exposed the strategic challenge for France now that its former sphere of influence appears to be collapsing. But a post-colonial Europe still has the ability to affect African affairs.

Who Lost the Eastern Mediterranean?

2011-02-07T09:03:20+00:00

For all the talk of a 'global Europe', the EU struggles to influence its neighbours in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its uncertainty over Egypt is indicative of a wider loss of direction in the EU's regional policies.

Dangerous Charity?

2011-01-04T12:57:48+00:00

The UN and humanitarian NGOs care for nearly three million people who have been driven from their homes in Darfur, but is foreign aid helping to perpetuate the ethnic cleansing of the region? A debate is growing within the aid community about how their work is being abused there, and elsewhere.

Will South Sudan be Ban Ki-moon’s finest hour?

2010-12-29T11:10:20+00:00

Ban Ki-moon's first term as UN Secretary-General, which is set to expire on 31st December 2011, will be defined by peacekeeping in Sudan. If he wants to win a second term in his post, rather than secure it by default, he must raise his game to lead the UN through the tough challenges that Sudan will present in the coming year, starting with the January 9th referendum.

No more heroes?

2010-12-08T14:13:05+00:00

David Cameron, the British prime minister, says that the G20 has passed its “heroic phase.” Certainly the last leaders' meeting in Seoul lacked the high drama of those during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. But perhaps we need to redefine heroic leadership: what the world needs now is politicians who are ready to make complex multilateral compromises for the common good.

Why Europe’s military cutbacks will hurt Africa

2010-11-16T10:47:19+00:00

Rampant defence cuts throughout the EU will probably spell the end of European countries' little-known but important interventions in African conflicts. This invites humanitarian disasters on parts of the map that increasingly small numbers of European citizens could identify.

Why the EU should stand by Obama

2010-11-05T07:45:27+00:00

Following President Obama?s mauling in this week?s midterm elections, European diplomats will doubtless be working on memos to their ministers with titles like ?The Transatlantic Alliance and the Tea Party?. Richard Gowan suggests what they should say.

Can the west still run the world?

2010-11-03T07:34:22+00:00

A historian of the future writing about the decline of the West should include a few lines on the events of October 2010. The EU gave up some privileges at the IMF, but it's not clear that the rising powers will now play by the West's rules.

Navel gazing won’t help at the UN

2010-10-06T15:02:01+00:00

The EU's place as an international power depends more on its actions than on its status at the UN. If Europe concentrates on tackling real-world challenges through the UN system it can keep the United Nations relevant; concentrating on matters of status only makes the EU look irrelevant itself.

Obama at the UN

2010-09-23T10:22:47+00:00

Barack Obama is addressing the United Nations General Assembly. His approach to the outside world is markedly different from that of George W Bush, but he is certainly not an unconditional believer in the UN. As he deals with domestic pressures, rising powers and challenges like Iran, he is ready to sideline or ignore the UN when he feels it necessary.

Don’t pretend the EU is the Red Cross

2010-09-06T08:56:53+00:00

Pakistan's floods; Haiti's earthquake; Russia's fires. What did the EU do to help? Richard Gowan argues that the EU must improve its political response to crises and not just its ability to deliver aid.

tomorrow’s warriors

2010-09-02T08:41:51+00:00

Europeans need to respect what non-Western powers think, and that includes their militaries. Europe's Asian, African and Latin American counterparts are already playing a more vital role on the world stage; once Europe's defence budget cuts start to bite, this role will only increase.

Calling in the EU-Team

2010-08-10T10:11:26+00:00

The EU needs to go beyond the standard "wait, react, peacekeep!" approach to handling looming crises. Instead, Richard Gowan argues, the EU ought to focus on early diplomacy. Given the strains on national budgets, this may be a job for the EU-Team (aka the European External Action Service).

Preventing the next generation of Kosovos

2010-08-03T13:13:58+00:00

At a time of constrained budgets, getting the EU to invest more in conflict prevention and human rights protection in faraway places like Sudan and Kyrgyzstan may be a hard sell. But, as Richard Gowan argues, the alternative is another generation of Kosovos.

Coalitions of the weaklings

2010-07-23T15:19:09+00:00

Before the euro crisis, Europe's leaders talked up the EU's global role. Now they are emphasising Europe's weaknesses and turning their backs on important foreign and security issues. In the meantime, crises continue to bubble in places like Sudan and the Middle East. Richard Gowan argues that weakness is not an excuse for inaction, but a reason to work in coalition.

Kosovo: statehood isn?t the problem

2010-07-22T07:57:39+00:00

In its advisory opinion of 22 July 2010, the International Court of Justice said that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in February 2008 "did not violate general international law". But is statehood the real question hanging over Kosovo? Richard Gowan believes that corruption, rather than statehood, is the biggest issue facing Kosovo.