Paper Titles & Abstracts

The paper analyses the evolution of the EU response to the Arab uprisings. Drawing on insights from Rationalist Institutionalism and Foreign Policy Analysis, it critically assesses the interplay of diverging member states interests, institutional constraints and external influences on cooperation in the form of collective diplomacy and coordinated crisis response. As a case study it considers the genesis of Council Decision 011/210/CFSP on 1 April 2011, on a European Union military operation in support of humanitarian assistance operations in response to the crisis situation in Libya ("EUFOR Libya" operation).It traces the events leading to this first and only military operation with the purpose of supporting humanitarian assistance in the region agreed upon in the framework of the Common security and defence policy (CSDP) during the Arab uprisings. Though ultimately not requested by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and hence never deployed, EUFOR Libya provides an interesting case study for the foreign-policy decision-making processes and negotiations taking place in the Council. The paper then goes on to argue how insights from this illustration can be generalized with regard to other difficulties in responding "with one voice" to the uprisings, as could be observed in the cases of Tunisia for instance. The final part of the paper outlines prospects for better coordination and collective diplomacy in the light of the EU's latest institutional innovations in the area of crisis response while underlining the continued necessity of member states' political will to make use of such instruments.