Standing United for Peace:
The EU in Coordinated Third-party Support to Peace Processes

Author(s): Canan Gündüz and Kristian Herbolzheimer
2011-01-01

International peace mediation is a rapidly expanding field that has evolved from classic diplomacy to more complex, multi-level and multi-stakeholder affairs, up to the point where today few (if any) international mediation efforts are conducted by one actor only. As a result, peacemakers have developed a multitude of collective coordination mechanisms to ensure complementarity between different actors’ support to peace processes, ranging from informal cooperation to more formalized set-ups like Groups of Friends. Indeed in many cases, the EU does not necessarily directly lead mediation efforts; but it has played and does play a significant role in supporting a number of peace processes together with other actors. This document looks at lessons on coordination among different third parties that support particular peace processes, and their relevance for EU peace process support. In particular it seeks to contribute to the implementation of the recent EU Joint Concept on Strengthening EU Mediation and Dialogue Capacities, which stresses the importance of coordination.

Engaging Unrecognised States in Conflict Resolution:
An Opportunity or Challenge for the EU?

Author(s): Nina Caspersen and Antje Herrberg
2010-12-28

Unrecognised states represent a complex challenge for the EU. They are involved in conflicts that pose threats to regional stability and are associated with significant humanitarian concerns, but the ability to deal with them is hampered by their unrecognised status. How can the EU deal with them without violating the principle of territorial integrity? This paper argues that engagement with unrecognised entities is relevant as well as a challenge for the EU. It can also, as a 'biased' actor support conflict resolution efforts. The role of NGO's as transformative actors needs to be carefully considered in such contexts. Recommendations focus of how the EU can enhance its capacity in dealing with these issues.

Building ASEAN capacity for conflict mediation

Author(s): Agus Wandi
2010-12-09

This policy brief aims to put forward key recommendations of the ASEAN’s potential role and how to strengthen its capacity for conflict mediation. The issues discussed in this paper were discussed at EU-ASEAN Expert workshop on International Peace Mediation in Jakarta on 30th July 2010, jointly organised by the Crisis Management Initiative and the EU Delegation in Jakarta under the IfP project.