The European Council on Foreign Relations

tomorrow’s warriors

2010-09-02T09:41:02+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

2010-08-10T11:11:35+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

2010-08-03T14:13:13+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

2010-07-23T16:19:07+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

2010-07-22T08:57:30+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.

A good day for good cop diplomacy

2010-06-10T11:08:40+00:00

The UN Security Council has approved new sanctions on Iran. Europe’s good cop diplomacy contributed to this success, and will play an important role in holding the new agreement together.

The crisis we missed

2010-05-27T16:04:11+00:00

29 May is the 5th anniversary of the French �non� to the EU constitution. The Dutch followed with a �nee� a few days later. Richard Gowan paints a bleak picture of the Europe that might have emerged had the French and Dutch backed the EU constitution in 2005, and asks: Will the EU never be happy?

Why Cathy needs a good crisis

2010-05-26T09:38:18+00:00

Catherine Ashton will be judged on how she responds to her first international emergency. Budget cuts might mean there will be less EU missions to crisis zones under her watch. So where will her first opportunity come from? Africa, the Middle East, or a crisis involving Russia?

GowanEuroExceptionalism

2010-05-11T11:38:11+00:00

The Euro crisis shows again that the EU needs international institutions like the IMF. This is giving observers from the developing world grim satisfaction that Europe is not as exceptional as it might like to think.

Break down these walls

2010-04-21T11:09:58+00:00

The EU should reinvent its crisis management capabilities / An open letter to the 27 Permanent Representatives to the EU.

The making of a strategic shambles

2010-04-19T11:54:42+00:00

The West tried to help in Darfur and Chad. But by having to cooperate with governments responsible for much of the suffering, EU and UN troops ended up pawns in struggles they could not stop.

Sudan, 2011

2010-04-13T10:34:22+00:00

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.

Sudan: the EU�s election problem

2010-04-09T17:17:07+00:00

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?

GowanIgnoretheWorld

2010-03-24T11:27:04+00:00

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

Incompetent multilateralism? richard gowan

2010-03-15T17:21:33+00:00

The Economist�s Charlemagne asks: if Obama’s American can’t make soft power work, what hope does Europe have? Richard Gowan answers: it has to work. Europe has no other option.

Europe et op�rations ext�rieures liberation korski gowan

2010-03-02T14:00:15+00:00

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?

GowanG20

2010-02-25T10:03:20+00:00

Most Europeans agree that the EU needs to sharpen up its act in multilateral institutions like the G20. The US won’t take us seriously if we don’t. The trouble is working out how.

Obamaagonyuncle

2010-02-09T10:49:47+00:00

ECFR agony uncle Richard Gowan offers reassurance to ‘Worried 27’ about their unrequited transatlantic love

Haiti: how many Europeans does it take to assess an earthquake? Gowan

2010-01-14T10:16:32+00:00

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.

Battling strategic irrelevance gowan

2009-12-16T15:53:46+00:00

European leaders should beware exiting Afghanistan. They have already staked their credibility there, and the balance of power in Asia is very uncertain.

korksi gowan civilian crisis

2009-10-15T08:00:42+00:00

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.

gowan un 2009 annual review commentary

2009-09-10T06:53:19+00:00

As European power at the UN declines, human rights standards drop and lives are put at risk.

Gowan E!Sharp Afghanistan

2009-09-01T15:41:06+00:00

The Afghan experience will leave Europe�s armed forces drained and in search of a new purpose. Insufficient political will and empty state coffers will hamper rejuvenation

Gowan EU UN peacekeeping Africa

2009-05-27T09:19:41+00:00

The EU should cooperate more with the UN in peacekeeping missions if it wants to show its �effective multilateralism� is backed up by muscle.

Gowan Europe Retreats

2009-02-09T10:45:55+00:00

Europe’s military is beating the retreat just as the world’s emerging powers are expanding their presence � an early sign perhaps of a new international order.

Congo EU Richard Gowan ECFR E!Sharp

2009-01-08T12:07:12+00:00

Last year’s Congo crisis brought home the EU’s limitations as a global power. Will it accept them or try to overcome them? Richard Gowan discusses.

Exiting Africa Gowan

2008-11-24T09:39:28+00:00

The Congo crisis demonstrated the UN’s limitations, but its longest-lasting effect may be to mark the end of European military interventions in Africa.

Gowan EU faces bigger challenges in Africa than in Ireland

2008-06-19T09:38:19+00:00

The “crisis” created by Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty is pretty tame - the EU faces far greater dangers in East Africa. But Lisbon could help solve them.

gowan the EU still needs UN peacekeepers

2008-05-21T09:44:38+00:00

The EU should pay attention to who is appointed as the next chief of the UN’s peacekeeping department.

Gowan EU and Iraq Strategy

2008-01-26T14:37:01+00:00

The EU is increasingly detached from efforts to stabilise Iraq. But EU governments cannot afford to ignore the situation there, and should use the year ahead to identify strategies to assist Iraq alongside the next US administration.