The European Union as a Peace Actor

The purpose of this essay is first, to examine European Union’s conceptualization of peace and security; and second, to discuss how the European Union (EU) seeks to contribute to international peace and security. It begins with a discussion of the EU’s understanding of peace and security and then proceeds with the EU’s identification of threats to international peace and security. The paper then focuses on the EU’s security strategy to identify how the EU seeks to address challenges to international order and stability. Finally, the paper employs the concepts of ‘civilian’, ‘military’ and ‘normative power Europe’ to demonstrate how the EU attempts to create international security and stability both at the regional and international levels. It argues that the EU employs both ‘civilian’ and ‘military’ means in the application of its ‘normative’ power.