A Human Security Doctrine for Europe - Project, principles, practicalities (Hardcover)

This edited collection sets out a new approach to security which focused on the European Union. It argues that threats to Europeans like weapons of mass destruction or terrorism can only be countered if we address the insecurity of people in different parts of the world.
Many people in the world lead intolerably insecure lives. In large parts of Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia or the Middle East, men and women live in daily fear of violent attacks, kidnapping, rape, extortion, robbery or trafficking. The existence of large military apparatuses do not create security; indeed, as in Iraq, the use of regular military forces may only make things worse.
This edited volume explores the needs of people in conflict areas, rather than taking an institutional or geo-political perspective. It proposes that Europe should develop a new kind of human security capability that involves the military, the police and civilians all working together to enforce law rather than to fight wars. The book is a record of the work of the Study Group on Europe's Security Capabilities, an independent group convened at the request of EU High Representative Javier Solana to advise on the future of European security policy. It is the first comprehensive academic and policy response to the European Security Strategy, published by the European Union in December 2003. Apart from the Study Group's Barcelona Report, it contains fifteen studies especially commissioned by the Study Group to help develop its approach:
- Two introductory contributions setting out the changed global context and proposing new approaches to security
- Five regional studies on the Balkans, the Great Lakes Region, the Middle East, the South Caucasus and West-Africa
- Four framework studies on different aspects of EU security policy, including the legal setting, the role of women, operational principles and the role of the new member states
- Four operationalstudies on capabilities, resources and institutional embedding
Written by a diverse team of international experts, this book will of be of strong interest to students and researchers of security studies, peace studies, human rights and international relations.