Publication

This study argues that after an auspicious start in 2003, the EU’s operational activities in Africa are now best described as peacebuilding by proxy. The author explains that, rather than deploying European troops, the EU prefers to support the UN or African Union financially and politically when it comes to military operations. By assessing what has been achieved in these operations, he shows that the EU may indeed have an important role to play in the conceptual space between "hard" peacekeeping and long-term development in Africa.