The European Union’s Crisis Management Operations in Support of the United Nations in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Question of Legitimacy

Year 2020, , 97 - 112, 08.12.2020

Taylan Özgür Kaya

https://doi.org/10.14782/marmarasbd.746064

Abstract

This article aims to analyse legitimacy of military crisis management operations carried out by the EU in support of the UN in sub-Saharan Africa by using Mark Suchman’s typology of organizational legitimacy including pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy. These three types of legitimacy are tested through analysing four cases in which EU has engaged in sub-Saharan Africa in support of the UN: Operation Artemis (2003), EUFOR RD CONGO (2006), EUFOR Tchad/RCA (2008-2009) and EUFOR RCA (2014-2015). In terms of pragmatic legitimacy, the EU enjoys high level of legitimacy, because these operations served both institutional interests of the EU and self-interests of some member states, particularly France. With regard to moral legitimacy, the EU suffers from a legitimacy deficit. Although declared motives for the launch of these operations was to help the UN in fulfilling its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, indeed, EU engagement in these crisis management operations was to a significant degree driven by the institutional interests of the EU and interests of some individual member states. Moreover, all operations were UN-mandated autonomous EU military operations rather than integrated EU troops in UN-led operations. Thus, real motivation for launching the operations and their modalities undermined moral legitimacy of these operations, because it casted doubts on whether these operations has served the global common good or not. Furthermore, EU’s utilitarian, selective and self-interested use of its crisis management tool puts limit on the EU’s future reliability and taken-for-grantedness as a UN partner in protecting and promoting international peace and security, and thus resulted in cognitive legitimacy deficit.

Keywords

European Union, United Nations, Crisis Management, sub-Saharan Africa, Legitimacy

Avrupa Birliği’nin Birleşmiş Milletlere Destek Amacıyla Sahra-Altı Afrika’da Yürütmüş Olduğu Kriz Yönetimi Operasyonları: Meşruiyet Meselesi

Abstract

Bu makalenin amacı, AB’nin Birleşmiş Milletlere (BM) destek olmak amacıyla Sahra-altı Afrika
bölgesinde yürütmüş olduğu askeri kriz yönetimi operasyonlarının meşruiyetini Mark Suchman’ın
pragmatik, ahlaki ve bilişsel olmak üzere üçlü bir sınıflandırmaya tabi tuttuğu örgütsel meşruiyet
tipolojisi çerçevesinde analiz etmektir. Bu üçlü meşruiyet tiplojisi, Birliğin Sahra-altı Afrika bölgesinde
BM’ye destek olmak amacıyla yürütmüş olduğu dört askeri kriz yönetimi operasyonu çerçevesinde
değerlendirilecektir: Artemis Operasyonu (2003), EUFOR RD CONGO (2006), EUFOR Tchad/RCA
(2008-2009) ve EUFOR RCA (2014-2015). Bütün operasyonların hem Birliğin kurumsal çıkarlarına
hem de Fransa gibi önde gelen üye devletlerin bölgesel çıkarlarına hizmet etmesi, Birliğe yüksek
düzeyde bir pragmatik meşruiyet sağlamaktadır. Buna karşılık ahlaki ve bilişsel meşruiyet açılarında
Birlik ciddi bir meşruiyet açığı ile karşı karşıyadır. Her ne kadar Birlik, bu operasyonların başlatılma
sebebini BM’ye temel sorumluluğu olan uluslararası barış güvenliği koruma konusunda destek olma
olarak açıklamış olsa da esas neden gerek Birliğin kurumsal çıkarları gerekse bazı üye devletlerin
özel çıkarlarının korunmasıdır. Bunun yanında, bu operasyonlar, Birlik askerlerinin doğrudan BM
komutası altındaki bir operasyona katılımından ziyade BM tarafından yetkilendirilmiş bağımsız AB
operasyonlarıdır. Bu iki özellik yani operasyonların gerisindeki gerçek motivasyon ve operasyonların
yürütülme tarzı bu operasyonların ahlaki meşruiyetini zayıflatmaktadır. Bunun temel nedeni ise bu
iki özelliğin, bu operasyonların küresel ortak fayda olan uluslararası barış ve güvenliğin korunması
amacıyla başlatılıp başlatılmadığı konusunda ciddi şüphelere neden olmasıdır. Ayrıca, Birliğin
kriz yönetimi aracını faydacı, seçici ve özçıkarları için kullanması, uluslararası barış ve güvenliğin
korunmasında BM’nin partneri olarak Birliğin gelecekteki güvenilirliğini azaltmakta ve bu şeklide de
kriz yönetimi operasyonlarının bilişsel meşruiyetini zayıflatmaktadır.

Keywords

Avrupa Birliği, Birleşmiş Milletler, Kriz Yönetimi, Sahra-altı Afrika, Meşruiyet

References

• Bailes, A. J. K. (2008). The EU and a ‘Better World’: What Role for the European Security and Defence Policy. International Affairs, 84(1), 115-130. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2346.2008.00692.x.
• Berg, P. (2009). EUFOR Tchad/RCA: The EU Serving French Interests. In M. Asseburg & R. Kempin (Eds.), The EU as a Strategic Actor in the Realm of Security and Defence (pp. 57–69). Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
• Bono, G. (2011). The EU’s Military Operation in Chad and the Central African Republic: An Operation to Save Lives?. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 5(1), 23-42. doi: 10.1080/17502977.2011.541781.
• Congo mission tests Europe’s military policy. (2003, June 17). Retrieved January 10, 2018, from Taipei Times website, http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2003/06/17/2003055617.
• Council of the European Union (CEU). (2009). EU Military Operation in Eastern Chad and North Eastern Central African Republic (EUFOR Tchad/RCA) Factsheet. Retrieved October 07, 2017, from http://www.eeas.europa.eu/archives/csdp/missions-and-operations/eufor-tchad-rca/pdf/01032009_factsheet_eufor-tchad-rca_en.pdf.
• Deephouse, D. L. & Suchman, M. C. (2008). Legitimacy in Organizational Institutionalism. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, K. Sahlin & R. Suddaby (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism (pp. 49–76). London: SAGE Publications.
• Deephouse, D. L., Bundy, J., Tost, L. P. & Suchman, M. C. (2016). Organizational Legitimacy: Six Key Questions. University of Alberta School of Business Research Paper No. 2016-901. Retrieved September 20, 2019, from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2849636.
• Dijkstra, H. (2010). The Military Operation of the EU in Chad and the Central African Republic: Good Policy, Bad Politics. International Peacekeeping, 17(3), 395–407. doi: 10.1080/13533312.2010.500150.
• Gegout, C. (2005). Causes and Consequences of the EU’s Military Intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A Realist Explanation. European Foreign Affairs Review, 10(3), 427–443.
• Giegerich, B. (2008). Chapter One: EU Crisis Management: Ambitions and Achievements. The Adelphi Papers, 48(397), 15-34.
• Ginsberg, R. H. & Penksa, S. E. (2012). The European Union in Global Security: The Politics of Impact. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Gowan, R. (2009). ESDP and the United Nations. In G. Grevi, D. Helly & D. Keohane (Eds.), European Security and Defence Policy: the first ten years (1999-2009) (pp. 117-126). Paris: EU Institute for Security Studies.
• Gowan, R. (2011). From Rapid Reaction to Delayed Inaction? Congo, the UN and the EU. International Peacekeeping, 18(5), 593-611. doi: 10.1080/13533312.2011.598324.
• Hadden, T. (2009). A Responsibility to Assist: EU Policy and Practice in Crisis-management Operations under European Security and Defence Policy. Portland: Hart Publishing.
• Haine, J. & Giegerich, B. (2006, June 12). In Congo, a Cosmetic EU Operation. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/opinion/12iht-edhaine.1954062.html.
• Homan, K. (2006). Operation Artemis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In European Commission External Relations Directorate-General (Eds.), Faster and More United? The Debate About Europe’s Crisis Response Capacity (pp. 151-154). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
• Howorth, J. (2007). Security and Defence Policy in the European Union. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Koepf, T. (2012). The Problems of French-led Peace Operations in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa. International Peacekeeping, 19(3), 333–347. doi: 10.1080/13533312.2012.696383.
• Mandrup, T. (2017). Study Report of DR Congo, South Sudan, Libya and Central African Republic. Deliverable of the Horizon 2020 Project: Improving the Effectiveness of Capabilities (IEC) in EU Conflict Prevention. Retrieved April 10, 2020, from https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e5b19002b1&appId=PPGMS.
• Mennon, A. (2009). Empowering Paradise? The ESDP at Ten. International Affairs, 85(2), 227-246. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2346.2009.00791.x.
• Nováky, N. I. M. (2016). From EUFOR to EUMAM: The European Union in the Central African Republic’. European Foreign Affairs Review, 21(1), 95-114.
• Olsen, G. R. (2009). The EU and Military Conflict Management in Africa: For the Good of Africa or Europe?. International Peacekeeping, 16(2), 245-260. doi: 10.1080/13533310802685828.
• Peters, I. (2011). Strategic Culture and Multilateralism: The Interplay of the EU and the UN in Conflict and Crisis Management. Contemporary Security Policy, 32(3), 644-666. doi: 10.1080/13523260.2011.623065.
• Rodt, A. P. (2011). The EU: A Successful Military Conflict Manager?. Democracy and Security, 7(2), 99-122. doi: 10.1080/17419166.2011.572790.
• Seibert, B. H. (2010). Operation EUFOR Tchad/RCA and the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy. Strategic Studies Institute Monograph. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pdffiles/PUB1026.pdf.
• Smith, R. V. (1970). The Concept of Legitimacy. Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, 35, 17-29.
• Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571-610.
• Tardy, T. (2014). EUFOR RCA Bangui: ‘Defence Matters’. European Union Security Studies Alert No: 7. Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://www.iss.europa.eu/sites/default/files/EUISSFiles/Alert_7_CSDP_and_CAR_.pdf.
• Tull, D. M. (2012). UN Peacekeeping Missions During the Past Two Decades: How Effective Have They Been?. In J. Krause & N. Ronzitti (Eds.), The EU, the UN and Collective Security: Making Multilateralism Effective (pp. 117-149). Oxford: Routledge.
• Ulriksen, S., Gourlay, C. & Mace, C. (2004). Operation Artemis: the Shape of Things to Come?’. International Peacekeeping, 11(3), 508–525. doi: 10.1080/1353331042000249073.
• United Nations Security Council (UNSC). (2003, May 30). UN Security Council Resolution 1484 (2003) Adopted by the Security Council at its 4764th Meeting. Retrieved September 30, 2017, from http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/UNresolution1484.pdf.
• United Nations Security Council (UNSC). (2006, April 25). UN Security Council Resolution 1671 (2006). Adopted by the Security Council at its 5421st Meeting. Retrieved September 30, 2017, from http://www.un.org/press/en/2006/sc8698.doc.htm.
• Wouters, J., De Jong, S. & De Man, P. (2010). The EU’s Commitment to Effective Multilateralism in the Field of Security: Theory and Practice. Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies Working Paper No. 45. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan_Wouters4/publication/228624020_The_EU%27s_Commitment_to_Effective_Multilateralism_in_the_Field_of_Security_Theory_and_Practice/links/543cc4640cf20af5cfbf724d/The-EUs-Commitment-to-Effective-Multilateralism-in-the-Field-of-Security-Theory-and-Practice.pdf.