Paper short abstract:

The European Union has been a major international actor in the African continent in the past decade in the domain of crisis management. The paper examines the credibility of its crisis management missions and policies in the continent during the past decade.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper the European Union is envisaged as a global actor with a lot of influence in the African continent. One of the major domains of its foreign policy in the continent is the area of conflict prevention and management. Even though the EU has achieved a number of positive results in this domain, there is still a lot to be done, since the results of the missions still fall short of expectations. Furthermore, a critical examination of the motives that lie behind EU's conflict prevention and management policies and missions in Africa reveals that establishing human security in the continent is not the primary EU objective; it is rather the secondary. Fulfilling the political and other ambitions of the EU are normally the primary objectives. In addition, the most powerful member countries of the EU, especially former colonial masters, use the EU as banner under which they can maintain or even increase their colonial dominance under a new name, the European Union. This brings into question the credibility of the whole issue of European integration and the establishment of the CFSP/ESDP.

By a critical evaluation of certain case studies, this paper tries to find the answer to the following questions:

 By intervening in conflicts in Africa, does the EU pursue the primary interests of Africa, such as the establishment of human security, or does it pursue the interests of its member states?

 How credible and effective is the EU conflict prevention and management policy in Africa?