Liberal peace represents a dominant paradigm of contemporary peacebuilding based on the principles of democratization and marketization. Within this dominant approach, scholars have distinguished several gradations that place their emphasis on specific aspects.
Within this paradigm the EU stance on peacebuilding and conflict management policy is difficult to categorize. There is no comprehensive and complete EU strategy on peacebuilding. Therefore, in PRIF Report No. 111 The European Union Peacebuilding Approach: Governance and Practices of the Instrument of Stability, Michal Natorski focuses on the practices pursued using the Instrument for Stability (IfS). He analyzes governance practices during the implementation of the IfS and assesses qualitatively the use of its different tools. Finally he tries to draw conclusions from his findings for the prospective orientation of the European External Action Service, especially in regard to its peacebuilding and conflict prevention policy.
Michal Natorski is a postdoctoral fellow at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. He was a visiting fellow at PRIF in the research department of “International Organizations and International Law” between February 2011 and May 2011. His current research focuses on practices and performance of EU foreign and security policies in relations with the EU neighbours and in multilateral security institutions.
This Report can be ordered at PRIF for EUR 10,- and is also available as free PDF download.