‘Building peace from the outside’: The role of the EU in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

• The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the impact of the EU’s peace-building and state-building interventions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the early 2000s. The study is based on several fieldtrips with considerable number of interviews in the DRC and in Europe during 2010. Through a number of security and development policies, security and policy missions, the EU claims to be a key player for building peace, stability and security in the DRC. The real practices and achievements on the ground point, however, in another direction. The EU’s organizational complexity provokes institutional divisions and bureaucratic ineffectiveness. Exacerbated by personality-driven policies as well as mistrust between EU officials, the Union is unable to pursue a coherent strategy. Instead of working closely with other actors and donors, the EU boosts the image of its own civilian and military missions whose effectiveness not least in Security Sector Reform remains negligible, despite the large budget expended. The modest results of the EU’s state-building and peace-building interventions in the DRC are closely linked with the EU’s appearing to be more concerned with establishing symbolic presence and political representation than with real achievements and genuine peace-building on the ground.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Globaliseringsstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Globalisation Studies (hsv//eng)

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