EU Military Operations as a Tool in the EU's Foreign Policy Toolbox - The Main Trends and Limitations

Abstract

The main aim of the article is to characterise and analyse EU military operations, taking into account their objectives, assumptions, successes as well as their limitations and weaknesses. The author focusses his research on EU activities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The following research questions were posed: what is the specificity and characteristic features of EU military crisis management operations; to what extent and in what direction are military operations launched by the EU evolving; in what way do EU military operations influence the perception of the EU as a civilian and normative power and affect the development of the EU as a security actor; what are the main limitations and weaknesses of EU military operations; what is their future in EU foreign policy? The author applied the following research methods: factorial, comparative, scenario, quantitative, and qualitative analysis. The main conclusion is that the EU's military operations and its military training missions should solely be perceived as one of the elements (measures) in EU foreign policy. As has been indicated in the title of the article, they are "a tool in the EU’s foreign policy toolbox".