Normative Power Europe and Conflict Transformation

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is increasingly getting involved in conflicts and post-conflict settings outside its own boundaries. A lot of the discussion of the EU’s engagement has focused on the question of an increasing ‘militarization’ and the legitimacy of interventions involving military force. Yet the engagement of the EU in conflict and post-conflict settings does not often rely on such force, and is better treated as an attempt to act as a normative power. In this contribution, we explore an aspect of this ‘normative power’ that has so far been largely neglected: is this discourse of EU normative power shared by other actors in international society, and does this make a difference in the chances of the EU to help bring about conflict transformation?

’We have presented earlier versions of this chapter at numerous workshops and conferences during 2007 and 2008, and we are grateful for all comments we have received. Particular thanks go to Caroline Hughes, Jocelyn Mawdsley, Hugh Miall, Mike Smith, Ole Wæver and Richard Whitman.