Bachelor Project
6 Semester 2011
Defining the Actorness of the European Union:
A Theoretical Approach to Kosovo
Mark Nygaard Brinch
Bachelor Project
May 2011
Abstract
The critique of the European Union’s military incapability has led scholars to seek new ways for the Union
to fulfil a role in international relations as the pressure rises to find a suiting international type of actorness.
This paper seeks to identify the approaches which the European Union could benefit most from taking and
what eventual type of ‘actorness’ is the most evidently suitable role for the European Union to fill in order
to remain a competitive factor in the international system. In order to identify this actor-role various
International relations theories are applied to the case of the EULEX mission in Kosovo, which is done to put
theory into practice. A short description of the Resolution 1244 on the situation in Kosovo is also
implemented in order to form the basis for the contextualisation of theory into practice as it outlines the
framework for the EULEX mission. The framework is then used when I apply international relations
theories. In Part One of the analysis I used Alexander Wendt’s constructivism to analyse a potential
structural approach by the EU to Kosovo and an interesting point between the construction of the
institutional settings and authorities of Kosovo and the theoretical forming of society is identified and is the
main subject touched upon in the analysis as it reveals a lack of connection between societal construction
and material structures. The gap between material structures and societal interaction is discussed and
analysed through the liberalist view of the theory of ‘complex interdependency’ by Joseph Nye and Robert
Keohane, and eventually through a utilitarian liberalist viewpoint. When applying the context of Kosovo to
these theories the motives for the European Union to assist in the reconstruction of a new state in the
same region as itself are uncovered. In the analysis of the motives for the EU to engage into the
reconstruction the utilitarian liberalism describes the EU as a predominantly self-interested actor. It
illustrates that the utility-maximising actor strives to optimise economic gains and benefit mostly from
Kosovo’s reconstruction especially the relatively underdeveloped private sector is identified as a target for
investments by European companies if a close cooperation between Kosovo and the EU can be established.
Neorealism is also used to shortly illustrate that the EU still consists of various actors and not as one
completely unified entity. However, realism as a theoretical approach in this paper is mostly applied to
emphasise its own inapplicability in explaining the mission in Kosovo and the EU’s motives.
In Part Two the theory of the EU’s ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’ used to illustrate the lack of capabilities of
the Union identified by Christopher Hill including his statement of the Union’s effectiveness in economic
affairs, which he identifies as an international role for the Union to attain. Drawing on Hill’s statement I
analyse on the proposed international role of the Union with regard to the theoretical findings in the case
of Kosovo to locate the ‘optimal actorness’ of the European Union. After having taken a closer look at the
potential role the Union could fill in the international system I conclusively include the concept of the’
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Political Economy of Conflicts’ which outlines a different kind of economically motivated intra-state wars,
or ‘new wars’ as Moritz Weiss puts it, which I argue is an evident situation for the European Union to
benefit from in regards to attaining an important international role concerning the fight against more
complex issues of economic- and security related problems.
Characters (no spaces): 3.065
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 4
1.1.
Thesis statement ............................................................................................................................... 4
1.2.
Relevance of research ....................................................................................................................... 5
Methodological approach......................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.
Hypotheses on the EU’s approach to other actor ...................................................................... 8
2.2.
Source Criticism....................................................................................................................... 8
2.3.
The scope of the thesis .......................................................................................................... 10
Theoretical reflections .................................................................................................................. 10
3.1.
The use of International Relations theories ............................................................................ 10
3.2.
Constructivist theory ............................................................................................................. 11
The Empirical outset ............................................................................................................................... 12
4.1.
5.
The EULEX mission in Kosovo ......................................................................................................... 12
Analysis ................................................................................................................................................... 13
5.1.
Part One: the EULEX and applying IR-theory ................................................................................. 13
5.1.1.
Constructivism and the European Union ............................................................................... 15
5.1.2.
Liberalism, the EU and the complex economic interdependency ......................................... 18
5.1.3.
Realism .................................................................................................................................... 20
5.1.4.
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 21
5.2. Part Two: The ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’ of the European Union and the ‘Political Economy
of Conflicts’ ................................................................................................................................................. 21
5.2.1.
Theory of the ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’ of the Union .................................................... 21
5.2.2.
The ‘Political Economy of Conflicts’ and the ‘new wars’ ....................................................... 22
6.
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 23
7.
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 25
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1. Introduction
Incapability in foreign relations seems to be the centre of debate among scholars of the European Union, it
seems like the accounts for the failures of foreign policy is unlimited in the efforts to elaborate on the
grounds for the EU’s disappointing results in international relations. Especially the area of military
cooperation seems to be the hardest of issues where the European Union needs to find better ways of
carrying out policies. However, the complicated issues in international relations today does not simply
require military means or ´hard power´, the complexities of the globalization of society calls for wider
concerns and deeper insights into the roots of the conflicts in global society. This global society and its
complexities require more sophistically developed methods in order to fully comprehend the social aspects
before political initiatives are carried out. However, simple homogeneity of standpoints and continuity in
international politics face daily hurdles as a consequence of different approaches to various issues in the
EU. The European Union perhaps best encapsulates the complexities of international relations as attempts
to operate as a unified actor has left the EU weakened as a military force and in some cases limited the
Union’s success as a diplomatic actor.
Is has continued to be a main problem among scholars to describe the defects of the EU in order to
theorise on the Union’s foreign lacks. Yet the European Union still strives for international success even
though some scholars have identified a kind of ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’ (Hill 1993). Nevertheless the
future may seem brighter for the European Union’s foreign relations, as it seems like the acknowledging of
the incompetence in military matters is imminent.
1.1. Thesis statement
This acknowledging of the military incapability paves the way for a new plan for the EU, because what role
will be the most optimal one for the European Union to attaining foreign relations? In order to specify the
objective of this paper the following thesis statement has been formulated below:
-
Considering the conflict in Kosovo and the EU’s succeeding role in the reconstruction; what
issues and opportunities will the European Union have to focus on in order to attain a successful
role of actorness in the international system?
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The outlined thesis statement is formulated on the basis of the conflict in the disputed territory of Kosovo
in the Balkans and the following EU-mission (EULEX mission in Kosovo) where the European Union was
assigned the task of reconstructing the institutional settings in Kosovo rather than acting as a military or
security enforcer, a task carried out by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In this paper I will
identify and discuss some areas that could function as constructive grounds to form a more consistent and
coherent foreign policy than what has been the case so far.
1.2. Relevance of research
Considering the often discussed issue of the EU member states disagreeing over various aspects of foreign
relations the ambitions of the European Union to be amongst the leading actors on the international scene
in the near future alongside countries like India, Brazil and China reality has to correlate to the capabilities
of the Union, which is not the case at the moment. The previous ambitions of the Union in terms of an
economic free trade area, a common currency and a competitive advantage in economy on a global scale
has been successfully realised, however, the forming of a coherent, consistent and common approach to
foreign relations seems to be an impossible task at the moment. The Union is now at a crossroads; if the
ambitiousness of the on-going project called the ‘European Union´ is to be sustained, respected and
continuously re-realised in the same way that has been the case for more than 50 years the member states
have to find a way in which collaboration on foreign issues is not only possible but easily doable, if the EU is
to be regarded as a serious competitor to the rising BRICS-countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa) in a global scale, baring this in mind the outlined task of this paper to try to analyse on the practical
internal disruptions in the Union in the efforts of creating a common foreign policy and the theoretical
analysis of the EULEX-mission in Kosovo, the task is of immense importance to the EU’s future reputation
not only among the Europeans but also in relation to the upcoming leading powers of the world, again
referring to the BRICS-countries. The perception in the BRICS-countries of a united union, (in principle) a
single-exercising state and the respect that follows is of great importance to a Union that is going through
tough times and faces a great deal of scepticism in many member states. This can be seen in the rise in
popularity of many nationalist and EU-sceptical parties possibly somewhat due to the increasing criticism of
the EU in terms of the lack in individual sustainability of the poorer member states’ economies in the
aftermath of the financial crisis. The reasons for focusing on the EU as a regional actor instead of as a global
actor lies in the realisation of the Union already having been left long behind the BRICS-countries in terms
of being a true global competitor as an international actor, which gives rise to the perception of the EU as
having to be able to exercise successful regional foreign policies in order to become a successful global
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actor, meaning that the European Union needs to learn to be a dominant regional player before being able
to compete as a global player with the BRICS countries in the future.
1.2.1.
Definition of ‘actorness’
Another important aspect to consider when the relevance of this study is to be discussed is the very outset
of studies of the European Union in international relations. The commonly conducted studies of the EU
focuses on the Union as a failure in terms of performing consistent and coherent actorness, the wrongness
in these studies lies in the conceptualisation of the structure of these studies as the approach to EU foreign
relations seems based on erroneously listed criteria for a successful exercise of actorness in the
international system. In other words, the notion of ‘actorness’ in the case of the European Union should
not be used as a definite term or a predetermined conceptualisation. This paper will therefore seek to
approach the notion of ‘Actorness of the European Union’ in a critical manner as the notion of actorness is
highly debatable.
This paper will seek to contribute to conceptualising the Union’s optimal role or the best possible
positioning on the international scene of the Union, it will further take into consideration the Union’s
opportunities as an actor with focus on the best type of actorness suitable. In others words, this paper will
use a method of predefining the concept of ‘actorness for the Union’ as it will strive to conceptualise the
ideal manner the Union can exercise actorness in order to find a more suitable basis for analysing on the
European Union’s opportunities as an international actor. Furthermore, in line with the listed aim of this
paper the severe critique of the Union as a weak international actor it also seems unfair in the light of the
judgements being made on the wrong conceptualisation of the Union’s role as an actor, what this paper
therefore will strive to account for or determine is what concept of actorness or what mode of actorness is
best suitable to account for the pattern of behaviour of the EU in international relations. The importance in
finding a suitable conceptualisation in order to investigate the European Union’s potential as part of the
international system is vital, as the academic debates are taken a bad turn towards not taking into
consideration the uniqueness of the Union. However, scholars are still better equipped to discuss the
actorness of the Union as newer theoretical argumentation with reference to constructivist theory takes
into regard the construction of identity, which in practice is neglected, and as Christopher Hill points to in
an article from 1993: “‘Actorness’ in the world is something which most non-theoretical observers
automatically assume the European Community1 possesses (…)” (Hill 1993; 308).
1
Christopher Hill’s article ‘The Capability-Expectations Gap, or Conceptualizing Europe’s International Role’ was
written in September 1993, two months before the ratification of the Maastricht treaty and the birth of the European
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2. Methodological approach
The theoretical aspect of this paper is fairly comprehensive as the academic discussions will be concerned
with analysing the approaches to international relations performed by the European Union in order to form
a theoretical argument to find the ideal actor-role for the Union as mentioned in the introductory section.
The analytical section will concern the mission in Kosovo and a description together with a theoretical
analysis of a theory from Security Studies which originates from the perception of the international system
being actor-based leaving the international environment open to threats from all kinds of actors to initiate
conflicts in intra-state structures and create intra-state unrest (Wennmann 2007).
The analysis of Kosovo will nonetheless be the prime of this paper meaning that this paper will have as its
overall focus the theorising of the EU’s performance as an international actor in Kosovo analysed from the
views of various theories of international relations. Furthermore, in accordance with the stated theoretical
task outlined for this paper and due to the task being rather theoretical in its character in terms of
elaborating on the optimal international role for the European Union, this paper will therefore to a great
extent omit a description of the practical features tied to the EU’s foreign relations. In the outlining of the
situation in Kosovo the practical performance by the EU will be sought to be explaining by IR-theory. The
theoretical aspect of the Kosovo-analysis will not only be the most comprehensive one but it will be
focused upon throughout this paper because of its uniqueness in connection to the EU functioning as a
successful international actor. Besides theorising on the case of Kosovo the analysis will include a section
discussing the concept of the ‘new wars’ (Weiss 2008). These theories will be contextualised with the
EULEX mission in Kosovo in order to discuss the coherence between the empirical successes and failures of
the mission and the concept of the ‘new wars. This paper will from the outset of the analysis of the
cohesion of Kosovo and the ‘new wars’ determine the optimal style of actorness for the EU in foreign
relations by applying the theory of the ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’ outlined by Christopher Hill (Hill 1993).
The theoretical aspect of this paper can be divided into two parts; firstly, an explanatory and theorising part
of applied International Relations theory (IR-theory) which outlines and discusses the theories and
separately contextualises them with the mission in Kosovo. Secondly, a part with outset in the findings of
the first part will also be discussed in the context of an identification of the contemporary challenges to
world security, this section will strive to account for the ‘new wars’ and the role of the EU in these wars.
Furthermore, an attempt to identify the strength of the Union will also be made and it will be based on the
Union which explains Hill’s use of the terminology of the European Community and not the European Union. Hill’s
article will profoundly dealt with in the section on ‘Source Criticism’.
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outcome of the findings in the theoretical analysis of the case in Kosovo and the through the application of
a theory from Security Studies.
2.1. Hypotheses on the EU’s approach to other actor
This paper also outlines a hypothesis concerned with the unique approach or the special positioning the EU
has taken in international system. This paper will base its research on the hypotheses of the EU being an
actor highly involved in the structural features of the other actors of the international system. In a sense
the outlined hypotheses takes ground in the perception of the Union as a rather analytical actor that takes
into regard the distinctive characteristics of every actor on the international scene.
The notion of ‘acting analytically’ takes ground in the theoretical idea of constructivist theory that puts
emphasis on the various social interactions in society and how these interactions result in the shape of
identity that forms political action (Reus-Smit 2001). Speaking in broader terms the concept of
constructivism entails a focus on constructivism and the structuralism embedded in the actors on the
international scene. By stating that this paper will perform an analysis of the EUs foreign policy potential
from the outset of hypotheses of the EU as acting out from a constructivist view means that there is a
suspicion of a very analysing approach by the EU to other actors in the international system. This approach
focuses on the consideration of the uniqueness of every actor and the idea that every state is characterised
by its own unique features as a result of the dynamics of interaction in society. The constructivist view of
approaching every state with focus on its uniqueness and how it is constructed as part of a societal process
and not as a definite prescribed result entails an unpredictability in state behavioural patterns which is
consistent with the individual process and identity shaping construction of each state.
This paper will approach the analysis from the outset of the suspicioned outcome of the analysis as being a
result based on the hypothesis that the European Union acts like an overwhelmingly thoughtful and rather
sophisticated actor in international relations. This could therefore entail that the conceptualisation of the
European Union’s attitude to other actors is based on strong analytical skills .It is therefore further believed
that the case of Kosovo have contributed further to the analytical way the EU approaches international
relations as the case of Kosovo is anticipated to be a scenario which the EU can benefit form in many ways.
2.2. Source Criticism
The use of a report (European Security and Defence Policy: The first 10 years (1999-2009)) outlined by the
European Union on its own activities in the area of the mission in Kosovo is obviously controversial
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considering the bias which easily could be embedded in an account of one’s own foreign activities.
However, since the report focuses on outlining the mere framework of the mission in terms of material and
chronological development of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) I have found it
suitable as a source for this paper.
Apart from the EU-report this papers analysis will involve different academic pieces from scholars involved
in the field of study of international relations, among these is the article ‘the Capability-Expectations Gap,
or Conceptualizing Europe’s International Role’ written by Christopher Hill, whom will be a frequently used
reference as a result of his very comprehensive and fulfilling research in the study of EU foreign relations.
The use of Hills article in a study of the opportunity of the CFSP has two slightly controversial issues tied to
it. Firstly; it might seem somewhat vague to use this distinct article by Hill as it can be argued to be on the
verge of being out-dated since it was released in September 1993, about the same time as the ratification
of the Maastricht treaty2. This means that Hills research has been challenged severely in terms of the
obtainability of data of the new treaty because of its originality. There is of course the idea that Hill could
had had time to consider the new treaty before its ratification if he somehow could get access to the
document before it was sent to a re-referendum in some countries, here amongst Denmark. However, it
might have been a rather impossible task to get hold on these documents before their ratification. Hill’s
article focuses on the institutional system and the paradigm of European collaboration being that of the
European Community and not the European Union. In the light of the ground-breaking changes as an effect
of the comprehensive document of the Maastricht treaty it might give reason to some scepticism towards
the validity and actuality of Hill’s article on the EU lacking in foreign relations as even though Hills article
was published in November 1993 he mentions both the CFSP and the Maastricht treaty on several
occasions when outlining his theory of the Capability-Expectations Gap (theory of CAG) in that article.
Secondly, as a result of the massive changes the European Union has gone through since the publishing of
Hills article the actuality of a study of the EU’s foreign policy involving his 1993 article might spur some
critique as the three and later two-pillar system which the EU and foreign policy is based 3on could for
obvious reasons not taken into regard. However, the rationality in conducting a study involving the Hills
1993 article lies in his account of the EU foreign policy as a universal struggle in terms of the obstacles in
the performance of a consistent foreign policy being the same in 2011 as in 1993. Elaborating on this
statement calls for a directing of attention to the frequently stated issue tied to foreign policy in the
2
The Maastricht treaty was signed on February 7, 1992 and ratified November 1, 1993.
The uses two modes of decision-making; the Supranational or the Community method which does not need national
approval and the intergovernmental mode of decision with enables member states to ‘veto’ certain proposals.
3
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institutional settings as a result of the process of decision-making based on the right to veto4. The decisionmaking process of Intergovernmentalism entails by the right of veto that the creation of it was done with
efforts to use as democratic a decision-making process as possible. Yet, the disposal of the veto for member
states leaves the process fragile to disruption as a result of even minor disagreements in the end
compromising the consistency and coherence of the EU foreign relations. In other word the argument by
Hill of the EU foreign policy being “no more than the sum of what the Member States severally decide”(Hill
1993;309) is to a great extent still the case because none of the member states is interested in
compromising their sovereignty in terms of their own nations performance of foreign relations.
2.3. The scope of the thesis
Because the study of the potential of the European Union’s foreign relations is an area that has been
exhaustively dealt with in the academic world as a natural part of the frequently seen practical limitations
of the EU in foreign matters observed in for example the Iraqi War and the case of the Russian-Georgian
War this thesis will seek to limit its scope to two areas. Firstly, the outset of this paper is limited to focus on
the EULEX mission, as the case of Kosovo enabled the EU to attain the role of mediator and reconstructor
of the judicial, the legislative and the executive branch5, which I will later argue is the optimal and most
effective role for the EU to exercise in terms of conflict-scenarios. Secondly, a majority of the literature on
EU foreign policy outlines some proposed reasons for the failing common foreign policy on military matters
and are generally sceptical about the prospects of a functioning foreign policy for the EU. This paper will
however focus on some of the areas of the EU’s Foreign policy that has been rather successful and it will
further focus on how the Union should try to politically capitalise on that in order to benefit internally as
well as externally, this will likewise be dealt with in a theoretical matter.
3. Theoretical reflections
3.1. The use of International Relations theories
In the efforts of trying to conceptualize the opportunities and abilities of the European Union as an
international actor applying IR-theory seems obvious in trying to analyse the Union’s foreign relations and
4
The decision-making process referred to is Intergovernmentalism.
In this regard the executive power refers to the police and border-control unit as well as the political executive
power in Kosova.
5
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its possible limitations to this way of conducting international politics. As a consequence of the
complexities of the EU and the structural aspects of the operation in Kosovo the theoretical view of
constructivism is inevitable in efforts to analyse the EU’s approach to international relations. The paper will
apply Alexander Wendt’s conceptualisation of constructivism and his view that societal interaction creates
international relations behaviour more than material structures which also has influence on international
behaviour, however not to the extent that social processes in society does it (Wendt 1999; 21).
The international relations theories of realism and liberalism will likewise be used to identify the failures or
successes in the foreign affairs of the European Union in the mission in Kosovo, however in the case of
realism it will be rather neglected as an approach to Foreign relations by the EU but the theory will still be
applied to aspects of the analysis that concerns the behaviour of other actors of the international system.
In contrast to the use of realist theory the application of liberalist theory will be argued to be a much more
suitable theoretical approach in analysing the EU’s international relations. In terms of using the theory of
liberalism it will be sought to try to use it to show the economic incentives tied to the EU becoming a
successful leading regional actor. The theory of neoliberalism and utilitarian or utility-maximising liberalism
will be the theories applied. Furthermore Joseph Nye and Robert Keohane’s famous theory of the ‘complex
interdependency’ (Nye and Keohane 1977) of countries which create an incentive to neglect armed conflict
will likewise be used to identify the strengths of the Union.
The theories of liberalism will be combined with the abovementioned concept of ‘the Political Economy of
Conflicts’ (Weiss 2008) that seeks to account for the grounds tied to the different kinds of conflicts the
world is facing and will to a great extent be facing in the near future. These different kinds of conflicts are
the result of the globalization and the clashes of societies enabling various types of actors on different
levels of the anarchical system of the international system to engage in civilian conflicts and wars based on
the strive for power.
The majority of the motives for the conflicts-initiating actors are economic, even though some of them is a
manner of power of different shapes and kinds all the private actors initiating the conflict are driven by
economic incentives. The concept of the ‘new wars’ developed with point of departure from the
unsatisfactory theoretical explanations of the intra-state conflicts of the 1990s (Wennmann 2007), here
amongst the conflict regarding Kosovo.
3.2. Constructivist theory
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The main theory discussed in the analysis will although be constructivist theory, as the outset of this paper
in regards to the later outlined hypotheses at first glance seems very applicable in analysing a potential
coherence between the theory of constructivism and the hypotheses of this paper which proposes a
relation between the European Union’s very ‘analytical’ way of acting in the international system and the
rising conflicts of the future.
Another theory by Christopher Hill will be taken into use to illustrate and analyse the capabilities of the
European Union’s foreign performance after the analysis of Kosovo and the theory of the ‘new wars’ has
been carried out is his theory of the EU’s ´Capability expectations gap´ (Hill 1993). In this theory Hill
basically outlines the significant incoherence between what is expected by the European Union as a single
actor exercising foreign relations, and what is the reality of the abilities and activities of the European
Union in the field of foreign relations.
To Sum up the theories applied to the analysis on EU foreign relations will be divided into the three parts of
the analysis. Part One of the analysis will discuss the situation in Kosovo by implementing realism,
liberalism in terms of the theory of ‘complex interdependency’ and of utilitarian liberalism, and
constructivist theory from the study international relations. Part two will involve the discussion of Kosovo
and the theoretical outcome will be discussed with Christopher Hills earlier mentioned theory of the ‘new
wars’ as part of his more comprehensive theory of the uprising and widely academically approved but
highly debated concept of the ‘Political Economy of Conflicts’. Part Two of the analysis will further include
the theory by Hill labelled the ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’ of the European Union.
4. The Empirical outset
4.1. The EULEX mission in Kosovo
To briefly outline the events that created basis for the EULEX mission in Kosovo and to acquaint the reader
with the context of the case of Kosovo. The fundamental reason for Kosovo being a disputed territory is to
be found in the suppression of the Albanian majority in the state of Kosovo6, a majority which can date its
roots in Kosovo back from the times of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 and on to the First Balkan War of
1912, where Serbia regained control of Kosovo (CIA World Factbook 2011; Kosovo). During the regime of
6
Throughout this paper Kosova will sometimes be referred to as a state in spite of the fact that the UN Security
Council has not officially recognised its independency as a result of the Russian veto (Serbia and Russia declared its
independency illegal (Grevi 2009)), however, as of May 1, 2011 over 70 countries have recognised Kosova as an
independent state (CIA World Factbook).
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the Ottomans many Turks and Albanians had moved to Kosovo and in the 19th century Albanians had begun
to outnumber Serbs in the province of Kosovo, which would lead to a rise in Kosovo Albanian nationalism in
the 1980s as the post-WWII autonomous province of Kosovo of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia had
been given almost complete autonomy in line with regular states was now being heavily suppressed
through discriminatory policies against its Albanian majority (CIA World Factbook 2011, Kosovo; Grevi
2009). The continuous discrimination against the Albanian majority in Kosovo by Serb-political leader
Slobodan Milosevic culminated in 1989 when Milosevic’s regime abandoned Kosovo’s status as an
autonomous state in a new constitution which led to Kosovo-Albanians organising a referendum with
efforts to declare Kosovo independent. The increased tensions led to a Serbian massacre on the Albanian
population of Kosovo which ended in March 1999 when NATO initiated a bombing of Serbian troops that
led to their withdrawal from Kosovo (Grevi 2009). After the bombing, the UN Security Council (UNSC)
resolution 1244 of June 1999 paved the way for United Nations forces being deployed as security forces in
Kosovo, later NATO undertook the task of providing military security in Kosovo which was given the mission
name of KFOR, the administrative and political reconstruction still rested with the UN in the United Nations
Interim Administration Mission In Kosovo (UNMIK) (Grevi 2009).The UNMIK’s mandate was very unique in
several ways, for example the idea itself that a foreign actor was enabled the supervision of the
administration of a state basically meant that the exercise of law and order could be overruled if the
UNMIK found it invalid. Furthermore, the territorial integrity as Grevi puts it was not questioned and in
other words the sovereignty of the state was not widely respected when the decision to move in to Kosovo
was put into practice. Nevertheless it is worth considering the various historical later examples of the
international community hesitating or simply having reluctance to deal with or interfering with the
sovereignty of states even in extreme cases involving the need for a humanitarian intervention, the
upholding of integrity in terms of nation-sovereignty is the topic of many different papers, not this one.
The United Nations did not only assume the position of being supervisor and guider of the Kosovoadministrations the UNMIK also undertook the task of helping the exercise of a legitimate political process
in terms of a potential independent future Kosovo, this might be even more controversial considering the
issue of having no regard for the integrity of sovereignty.
5. Analysis
5.1. Part One: the EULEX and applying IR-theory
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The mission in Kosovo was in many ways a very unique task for the European Union as it enabled the
European Union to prove its worth in matters of foreign relations, a field of operation in which the EU had
not yet shown the unity and power that a framework of several European nations working together else
could have signalled. European Union as a unified actor could have had a potential of status of
‘Superpower’ with enough strength to challenge the USA-monopoly on said status, the Union could just as
well have strived to obtain a status as an international alternative to the USA as a superpower.
Nevertheless the EULEX-mandate was also an opportunity for the EU to manifest its reputation as a strong
regional security actor, in this case through assisting, monitoring and advising the construction of the legal
institutional system of the Kosovo. The mandate for the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) was
nonetheless surrounded by some controversy due to the extensiveness the mandate provided the EULEX
with. The controversy tied to the European Union’s performance in foreign relations has ground in the
development policy which the Union performs in third world countries where the ‘promotion of
democracy’ is among the Union’s stated goals but to some extent has been criticised for being a
westernisation of the third world countries in disguise. Because of the history of European colonization the
foreign policy activities of western actors and especially European actors are a fragile topic, which makes it
even harder for the European actor(s) to carry out the promotion of democratic values outside Europe
without critique or at least some scepticism. Even though in the case of Kosovo, it was a regional
intervention the disrespect for the sovereignty of states seen various times in world history was still in mind
when the mission in Kosovo began, it is these examples of disrespect for sovereignty and territorial
integrity of state and of course later examples as well that contribute to the issue of humanitarian
intervention being elevated in terms of seriousness, and as a frequently labelled ‘very last resort’. It is in
the light of the common respect for the integrity of the sovereignty of state that the controversies tied to
the mission in Kosovo had its roots; one of the things that were subject to debate was the legitimacy of the
far-reaching mandate of the UN Security Council. The mandate stated that the UNMIK should amongst
others be:
“Organizing and overseeing the development of provisional institutions for democratic and autonomous selfgovernment pending a political settlement, including the holding of election; (…) facilitating a political process
designed to determine Kosovo’s future status” (United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, 1999).
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (UNSCR 1244) was aimed at making the UN and later
the EULEX able to assist, monitor, advise and in certain areas exercise to the extent needed in order to
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construct the judicial, police and institutional elements required for Kosovo to function. However, due to
the wide-ranging mandate the UNMIK and the EU operated within the establishment of an independent
Kosovo with institutions, border control and political was a comprehensive task in which western countries
was given the exclusive right to organise the construction of a state. The level of controversy tied to the
western constructing a state is reflected in the on-going polemics over the recognition of Kosovo’s
independence and of Kosovo as a state that has seen only 70 countries recognition its statehood with
amongst others Serbia and Russia declaring the statehood of Kosovo illegal. When the EU to the outlined
extent outlined in the mandate deploys in Kosovo and has the influence on the construction of the state is
no longer a matter of building a state with outset from the Kosovar people, the project is more just a case
of a western project of constructing a state of that of western standards or in this case more specified of
EU-standards. This is nonetheless easily an interpretation excelling all rationality as the forming of an
independent and well-functioning state with borders, rule of law and democracy is an impossible task if the
political culture has no roots in history tying it to traditions of the construction of statehood, because even
though the ethnic cleansing had to be put to an end the institutional construction and be argued to be a
somewhat too comprehensive an intervention by a foreign unit. However, the issue of to what extent
humanitarian intervention is defendable has been profoundly discussed by scholars, one of the most
famous scholars involved in the discussion on humanitarian intervention was John Stuart Mill whom
proposed that “Like individuals, states developed their political powers and capabilities by learning to
manage their affairs themselves. They might make mistakes, even engage in civil conflicts and cause much
suffering, but that was all part of the process of growing up” (Parekh 1997; 53). This is of course a rather
out-dated source but nonetheless is the debate of the justification of humanitarian intervention a timeless
debate as it is concerned with ethics of sovereignty of states. Nevertheless, in the light of the EULEX
mission and its tasks of assisting, monitoring, advising and to some degree exercising in the construction of
the state of Kosovo it can be argued that the role of the institutional construction-based role of the EU
might been too much considering the statement John Stuart Mill, as the obstacles tied to stateconstruction in the case of Kosovo has been relatively absent and therefore has not contributed to the “(…)
process of growing up” as Mill puts it. It might therefore be a matter of concern if the Kosovars are capable
of carrying out the responsibilities tied to statehood without it turning to corruption, organised crime and
other elements. The EULEX mission has provided the state with a good comprehensive framework, but
nonetheless it’s still just a framework for state governing.
5.1.1. Constructivism and the European Union
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Looking at the humanitarian intervention from a constructivist point of view the European Union has taken
on a hard job in terms of attaining the role as state-entrepreneur, because even though the EULEX mission
assists the Kosovars in building the institutional, judicial and political framework for Kosovo the embedded
political culture of Kosovo might take some time to form. In a constructivist sense, the identities and the
societal interactions of Kosovo are going through many processes during the time of EULEX mission and
have done so in the past. Recalling the uprising in the 1980s against the Serbian regime and the continuous
strive for independence was a result of the on-going processes of interaction in society. The struggle of
cultural domination in the territory of Kosovo is a process of cultural interaction between all of the many
minorities of Kosovo, and most significantly a cultural process involving the Kosovo Albanians and Serbs
which have been living side by side for a very long time and competed for significance. Moreover, the
dispute between the Kosovo Albanians and the Serbs has lasted for a very long time with intensity being
really high in the past 20-30 years adding to the societal struggle for domination and influence in the
Kosovo territory.
If we draw on Alexander Wendt’s work on constructivism it is arguable that the future of Kosovo is very
unpredictable when speaking of the consolidation of nationhood, meaning that if we adopt the view of
social interaction and societal processes rather than material structures being the main factor to influence
the shaping of behaviour and identity in international relations (Wendt 1999; 21), we might be able to
account for the development in Kosovo up till now but we are still not in a position to predict the nature
and international behaviour of the state of Kosovo as an international actor. In spite of the EULEX mission
building the institutional framework for the state of Kosovo we are not able to build the state of Kosovo in
terms of building a well-functioning international actor, according to Wendt. The material framework
established by the EULEX mission is not sufficient to create an international actor according to Wendt’s
theory. In accordance with constructivist theory in the sense of Wendt’s outlining of the theory the societal
processes in Kosovo is the main influence in the shaping of behavioural identity of international actors. This
underlines one vital issue tied to Kosovo as an international actor; it might most likely be impossible to
predict whether the state of Kosovo will be a well-functioning state in the international system or not if
seen from a constructivist point of view, this is because even though the material framework or structures
has been created for Kosovo to fulfil its role in international relations, as well as in domestic affairs, the
actorness in the international system of Kosovo is determined by the internal social interaction and the
societal process in Wendt’s view. This means it is thereby not certain to what extent Kosovo will be able to
carry out an effective performance of actorness because it lacks the identity created in society through
societal processes due to it being an artificially established state. Therefore will Kosovo not be able to
shape its behavioural pattern as an actor, due to the rapidness and forced construction of its statehood
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together with the factor of foreign actors being the entrepreneurs. In addition to the theoretical
interpretation of Kosovo it should also be mentioned that constructivist theory argues that because of the
unpredictable and complex social processes in a society we can never predetermine the outcome of these
processes in terms of determining actor-behaviour in international relations.
Taking Wendt’s constructivist theory into consideration in the case of Kosovo an interesting aspect worth
taking a closer look at is the idea of the artificially created state and the following theoretical argument of
the lack of identity to shape actorness. In the construction of a state the European Union might benefit
from taking a structural approach in terms of taking into consideration the societal processes tied to the
institutional construction. However, the construction of a state is a very unique objective and perhaps the
European Union is to some extent the best possible entrepreneur in the case of Kosovo?
Wendt’s concept of constructivism does not only assist in theorising the issues tied to the construction of a
state in the case of Kosovo, it further assists in explaining the problems the European Union will have to
face as an international actor, because the European Union is in many ways the best illustration of a
conceptualisation of Wendt’s constructivist theory. Elaborating on this point means that we will look to the
previous successful initiatives by the EU in terms of assisting in state construction or state-strengthening. In
order to fully comprehend the EU as an international actor and outline a suitable actorness for the Union
we have to take a closer look at the theoretical explanations of the actorness of the member of the
European Union.
Looking at the European Union from a constructivist view, the social construction of a continental politically
coherent Union might to some extent be seen as an impossible task in the light of the differences between
nations still present in the contemporary European Union. It is no secret that the Union still is struggling
with internal differences creating a unique composition of actors, which The Union might be able to benefit
from in its exercise of international actorness. The reason for this belief lies in the reflection of the Union as
a consolidated empirical actor. This means that when bearing in mind the historical development of the
Union it is an actor which has developed on the basis of 27 individual member states that all have a
politically predefined relationship to each other and to other actors of the international system. This entails
the actorness of the European Union does not contain an unpredictability embedded in a social
construction since it is not entirely in line with constructivist theory as the basic approach of these member
states to certain issues is predetermined to some extent as the EU Members still consider the national
foreign policy and not the one performed by the EU as their primary foreign policy. Wendt’s account of
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constructivism can to some extent be applied here but with exceptions. Rightfully the Union consists of
internal processes and social interaction, which in the case of the Union is easily seen reflected in the
performed foreign policy of the Union in the form of a more sophisticated approach to other actors of the
international system seen carried out in practice in the construction of Kosovo, hereby referring to the
special circumstances of civilian character in mission. The very mentoring, advisory and consolidating
approach to the construction of the law enforcement institutions in terms of taking into consideration
incorporation of various ethnicities was a good example of the Union’s regard for structural and societal
factors.
Even though the Union consists of 27 individual actors a homogenising of some fundamental standpoints
has developed throughout years of close collaboration and the EU is obviously constructed on basic
common stands which enabled the approach to Kosovo I the first place. The homogenising of common
policies in the EU has also been a key element in the motivation for construction the state of Kosovo due to
its geopolitical significance for EU, both politically and economically.
5.1.2. Liberalism, the EU and the complex economic interdependency
The uniqueness of the mission in Kosovo derives especially from the comprehensive engagement of the
European Union in all three branches needed to create a framework for the establishment of a democracy;
the judicial branch, legislative branch and the executive branch.7 The construction of the state of Kosovo in
the Balkans is holds great opportunities for the EU to benefit from. Broadly speaking four opportunities is
recognisable for the Union in the light of the creation of a Kosovar state. Firstly, and most mainly the Union
can recognise an economic incentive in the construction of the Balkan-state; because the construction of
new institutional settings and the establishment of a new societal framework provides great opportunity
for the rise of new private companies to generate capital. This will create an entire new foundation for
investments in Kosovo, a Balkan country that will be an unexploited market for foreign investments by
companies in the EU, in other words a completely unexploited market will rise and embrace the
investments by the European companies. This is however only if Kosovo embraces the West, which is
evidently the case as the EU already has shown is support to the construction of a state and invested
nothing less than 2.7 billion Euro in the construction of Kosovo (Grevi 2009; 365). Secondly, the cultural
incentive embedded in a potential collaboration with Kosovo. The predominant religion in Kosovo is Islam
which could be a very good incentive for the European Union to begin close regional cooperation with a
Muslim country in order to improve its image in the Muslim world. Taken it a step further then the
7
Here referring to both the law enforcing forces and the political exercise of an elected government.
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possibility of an eventual membership of a predominantly Muslim country could likewise be a good
opportunity for the Union to pave the way for a better image. Thirdly, the idea of an EU-membership is also
an opportunity in itself. It is although worth mentioning that there are risks tied to striving for a Kosovar
membership for the EU. These possible risks are the bad economic state of things. As Kosovar historically is
a place for many minorities the risk of Kosovo becoming an economic burden instead of an economic
advantage is also a scenario worth taking into consideration. Fourthly, there is also the possibility of
establishing a successful gateway to the rest of the Balkan countries meaning that the inclusion of Kosovo
into the EU or simply initiating successful close co-operations like including Kosovo to be part of the
European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) might function as a motivational appeal to other Balkan countries
struggling to live up to the Arquis Communuitaire in order to continue the process to that of direct
negotiation on EU-membership The country which first comes to mind is obviously Albania as close cooperations between EU and Kosovar Albanians easily could serve as motivation for Albania to more
intensely strive for membership.
Most of the identified primary listed opportunities for the EU tied to the rise of a Kosovar state is of
economic nature, which to a great extent can be argued to be among the most considered incitements for
the EU in foreign relations. Considering the Union’s role as an economic trading power with 40 years’
experience in international economic negotiations, and its role as a powerful bargainer in the multilateral
system it is an evitable to ignore the EU’s label as an ‘trading superpower ’, you might even argue that the
EU has gained worldwide political influence through trade (Meunier and Nicolaïdis 2005; 265). This
proposal by Meunier and Nicolaïdis does not only underline the strength of the Union when consistency in
policymaking is possible through unanimity, it also emphasis the effectiveness of the Union in terms of
exploiting the market-based economy as an advantage considering its own customs union. The Union has
not only managed to collaborate on foreign policies in order to strengthen is economical position, it has
done so through an early realisation of an increasingly ‘Complex interdependency’ of world economies to
introduce the terminology of Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye (Nye and Keohane 1977). Joseph Nye and
Robert Keohane theory of ‘Complex interdependency’ proposes the idea that countries have become
increasingly interdependent through the liberal market-based economy entailing that armed conflicts are
too risky and not worth engaging into for market-based countries because of the potential for mutual
economic losses due to the complex economic interdependency (Nye and Keohane 1977). Drawing on the
work by Nye and Keohane the EU could identify strong economic incentives in the effort of establishing the
state of Kosovo, in other words the EU might at an early stage have identified the benefits tied to assisting
Kosovo in a rapid construction of the state and of the economy.
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If we include the earlier listed opportunities for the EU we quickly recognise the somewhat utilitarian
nature of the Union which might point towards a more self-interested and utility maximising foreign policy
performed by the Union. It is likewise identifiable that the Union puts great efforts into establishing a good
relationship with Kosovo through assisting in the construction of the state. This relationship can be argued
to contain possibilities for other Balkan-countries as well. Looking at the Balkans, many of the countries in
that region is on the brink of either obtaining status of official EU membership-candidate or is in the
process of living up to the Arquis communuitaire. If the EU can assist these countries in become
interdependent in economic terms it would create a good foundation for further co-operations and
creating a closer and better relationship between the countries which has a history of unrest and conflicts.
Thereby enabling them to create stability and peace in the region and create groundwork for an
economical positive expansion of the Union into the Balkans or create a strong neighbour in the same
region as the Union evident as partner. Considering the complex interdependency-theory outlined by Nye
and Keohane the increasing interdependency between countries leads to better no armed conflicts as the
mutual costs would be too high, the European Union could benefit from having this approach to conflict
solution. It is nonetheless obvious that the case of Kosovo was a unique opportunity for the Union to build
an economic partner from scratch and thereby establish a good foundation for investments and economic
collaboration which might not have been that easily done elsewhere. Even though the benefits for Kosovo
are good the engagement into Kosovo by the EU can still be argued to entail a utilitarian liberalist view of
international relations by the EU as it would pave the way for economic investments.
5.1.3. Realism
To include neorealist theory that considers actors of the international system to consist of states all seeking
to strive for maximum the EULEX mission in Kosovo is very interesting as neorealism seems somewhat
unable to explain the Kosovo mission. In a realist view the engagement into Kosovo and the construction
work is rather unexplainable in the sense that an actor would only strive for maximum influence on another
actor in order to optimise its hard power. As done in the last paragraph it can be argued that the EU would
benefit economically. Secondly, realism is further limited in its explanation of Kosovo by the idea of military
and security resources, in other word the EU would not help Kosovo establish security forces as it would
not be in the best interest for the Union to strengthen the hard power of a foreign actor. However, there
was, as Grevi points out in his report on the EULEX mission, one issue in the construction of Kosovo that can
be ascribed to realist theory. This was mainly due to the EUPOL Afghanistan and EUMM Georgia mission
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also requiring national security resources at that time (Grevi 2009; 362). This small dispute between the
member state countries over the level of material dedication to the mission in terms of resources reflects
some of the issues the EU struggle with in its efforts to become a successful military actor.
5.1.4. Conclusion
When looking at the European Union’s handling of the situation in Kosovo the mode of a constructivist
approach is rather insufficient for the Union in this specific situation. This is due to the exceptionality of the
situation in terms of the Union having to rebuild a whole new state but being in no position to create a
society. In regards to the construction of a society and societal actors in Kosovo the EU seems to be acting
on grounds to utilise its own foreign opportunities, with emphasis on the economical perspectives. In the
EU’s way of performing actorness the member states seem to be able to agree on a common economical
way of doing actorness reflected in the engagement into Kosovo as having long term economic benefits for
the Union.
5.2. Part Two: The ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’ of the European Union and the
‘Political Economy of Conflicts’
5.2.1. Theory of the ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’ of the Union
The theory of the ‘Capability-Expectations Gap’(Hill 1993) of the Union has outset in the argument by
Christopher Hill which describes the great expectation to the international political cooperation of the
European Union and the expectations to the Union’s capabilities as an international military actor leaving
disappointing results as evidence of the impotence of the EU as a military actor. This gap between the
capabilities and expectations of the Union can to some extent be connected to the very motivation by the
EU to engage into Kosovo in the first place. Taking into consideration the lack of effectiveness of an
effective military actor role for the EU it seems like this lack of capability has been acknowledged and the
Foreign Policy of the Union has taking a new turn into a different type of actorness focusing on civilian
support instead of a military one. Furthermore, the outlined goal of the EU striving to become a global
actor no longer is seen reflected in practice. This could entail the Union’s aim is changing from the aim of
becoming an established global actor to becoming an established regional actor, as the engagement into
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Kosovo entails (Larsen 2002; 297). It is no secret that the EU is currently in an actorness identity crisis but if
the Union has directed attention to the civilian aspect of foreign policy and conflicts resolution the optimal
position in international relations for the EU might no longer be that much out of reach.
Considering the diagnosed gap between capabilities and expectations in foreign policy the realisation of
this gap seems to be happening as the mission in Kosovo entails, the European Union is most likely starting
to realise the lack of capabilities in international military affairs and is now turning towards the areas where
the EU has diagnosed itself as having a competitive advantage as an international actor. As outlined above,
the EU is predominantly acting in line with liberalist theory, more specifically a utilitarian liberalism focusing
on economic gains and as Hills points out the forerunner for the European Union, the European
Community, already had function is performed in the international system (Hill 1993;310), one of these
roles included the ‘managing of world trade’.
In spite of the World Trade Organization being established in 1995 two years later than the publishing of
Hills article it is very interesting that he recognised and argued that the Union had capabilities in trade to
become a successful global actor through using that advantage to function as the global manager of trade.
Looking at the contemporary strength and weaknesses of the European Union we have earlier identified
the Union as being rather effective in economy-related issues and focusing on economic gain to a great
extent in its performance of foreign policy. Taking its identified capabilities in economic matters into
consideration the theoretical potential as a global actor focusing on economy as mentioned by Hill and
argued in relation to utilitarian liberalism and the understanding and exploitation of the complex
interdependency might pave the way for a successful actorness for the European Union, not only as a
regional but as a global player.
5.2.2. The ‘Political Economy of Conflicts’ and the ‘new wars’
Having taken a close look at the EU potential and capabilities as an economic factor in the light of Kosovo it
is also relevant to shed light on the potential for the Union as a global or regional security actor. The
engagement into Kosovo was a rather different challenge for the EU as a security actor. The situation stood
out because of the civilian construction aspect tied to it. However, the intervention was performed by
NATO and therefore cleared the way for the European Union structural work leaving the European Union
with responsibility of almost only the civilian dimension in Kosovo, but maybe then Union should have a
more significant role as a security actor in international relations?
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As Moritz Weiss explains there is a change in the security-environment, a change of the nature of conflicts
from inter-state wars towards intra-state wars that differ from the usual civil wars. Weiss further describes
this change of the nature of conflicts as a’ window of opportunity’ for the Union to benefit from in terms of
focusing on becoming a significant security actor through its capabilities in relation to handling the ‘new
wars’ as Weiss labels it (Weiss 2008). These ‘new wars’ involve private actors tied to criminal activities and
is often connected to the finance of militias, it seems like the environment of states are incapable of
handling these new kind of conflicts, which Monika Heupel describes this further as the ‘Criminalisation of
war economies and the economisation of motives’ (Heupel 2005).
The description of the changing security environment and the future challenges to world security seems to
be a suitable task for the European Union when taking into regard the economic and structural approach
which previously was identified in the case of Kosovo, and which Weiss also recognises. Weiss If we apply
the idea of the Union as a security factor concerned with economic and structural intra-state conflicts the
Union could fulfil the needed role in the international system and thereby find its ideal actorness. The
argument also rest on the needed international recognising of the international system consisting not only
of states as actors, but as private actors as well. The need for this recognition stems from the actors of the
‘new wars’ which is often private actors as Heupel described (Heupel 2005), private actors which
governments find it hard to deal with but whom the European Union is highly aware of. The capabilities in
this area of the European Union might have ground in is institutional settings whom is a unique
composition of private actors and governments combined with the earlier described very sophisticated and
analytical approach to actors of the international system.
If we return to Wendt’s theory of constructivism, he holds the view that domestic policies is shaped by the
social interaction and on-going processes in society, he further argues that due to these behaviour shaping
processes being reflected in the actorness performed by the society or country in the international system
it is difficult to distinguish between domestic and foreign policy (Wendt 1999). This can be said to explain
the excellence of the European Union in its performance of what can best be labelled foreign economicsecurity policy.
6. Conclusion
The outset of this article was the situation in Kosovo and how the European Union had used the case of
Kosovo to seek new paths in its efforts of attaining a successful type of actorness in the international
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system. This was done through theorising on the opportunities for the European Union by mainly applying
constructivist theory by Alexander Wendt and two liberalist theories. Utilitarian liberalist theory explained
that the European Union was primarily motivated by the prospect of economic gains in terms of benefitting
from the unexploited and underdeveloped private sector of Kosovo, which European investors could
exploit for the benefit of the EU. However, in spite of the overwhelmingly economic incentives as factors
explaining the great dedication to the situation in Kosovo, constructivist theory argued that because of the
gap between societal processes in Kosovo the material structures/ institutional settings constructed
through a high level of involvement by the EU on various levels the Union is not capable of entirely
predicting the identity of the potential Kosovar state. Thereby it was established that constructivist theory
only to a certain degree can be used in the case of the EU.
By applying utilitarian liberalism it was outlined that the Union should only be dedicated to fulfil its own
economic needs. This self-utilising way of performing international politics which was backed by
Christopher Hill’s ‘window of opportunity’ was later argued to have the potential to become a new mode of
actorness for the Union to benefit from on a global scale.
Looking back at the outlined hypotheses it could to some extent be argued that the Union has had an
analytical and sophistically approach to the situation in Kosovo. As was pointed out above, the
constructivist theory applied showed the gap between the societal processes and the material structures
was out of reach for the EU in terms of influencing it for the Unions benefit. Furthermore, the European
Union’s actorness showed limitations in terms of being able to analyse on the development of Kosovo,
which was an argument for the utilitarian liberalist approach as it did not consider the societal processes as
limitations which was the case for constructivist theory.
The findings in this paper presents the European Union with a bright future as an international player with
opportunities to fill out a role as an actor capable of identifying the criminal economic and security
activities out of reach for states but increasingly relevant. Looking at future research on the issue of
European foreign policy an interesting aspect worth taking a closer look at whether the expectations of the
new actorness of the European Union corresponds with reality, or if we might experience another
‘Capability-Expectations Gap’.
Characters (no spaces): 51.542
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7. Bibliography

Hill, Christopher (1993). ‘The capability-expectations gap or conceptualizing Europe’s International role’, Journal
of Common Market Studies, 31 (3), pp.305-328.

Grevi, Giovanni and Helly, Damien and Keohane, Daniel (2009). European Security and Defence Policy The first 10
years (1999-2009). Condé-sur-Noireau (France): Corlet Imprimeur.

Heupel, Monika (2005). Friedenskonsolidierung im Zeitalter der "neuen Kriege": Der Wandel der
Gewaltökonomien als Herausforderung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

Larsen, Henrik (2002). ‘The EU: A Global Military Actor’. Cooperation and Conflict. 2002 37: pp. 283-302.

Meunier, Sophie and Nicolaïdis, Kalypso (2005). International Relations and the European Union. Oxford
University Press, New York.

Nye, Joseph and Robert Keohane (1977). Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition. Little, Brown
and company.

Parekh, Bhikiiu (1997). ‘Rethinking Humanitarian intervention’. International Political Science Review, Vol, 18, No.
1, pp.49-69.

Reus-Smit, Christian (2001). ‘Constructivism’ in Scott Burchill ed. Theories of International Relations, Palgrave,
2001, pp. 209-230.

United Nations Security Council (1999). ‘United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 on Kosovo’. New York,
1999.

Weiss, Moritz (2008). ´The “Political Economy of Conflicts”: A Window of Opportunity for CFSP? ´, Journal of
Contemporary European Research, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1-17.

Wendt, Alexander (1999). Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999

Wennmann, Achim (2007). ‘What is the Political Economy of Conflict? Delimiting a Debate on Contemporary
Armed Conflict’ Prepared for the International Studies Association Conference 2007, Chicago
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Online references

CIA World Factbook. Kosovo, CIA World Factbook, 2011. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/kv.html) Document dated April 6, 2011. Document accessed April 20, 2011

CIA World Factbook. Kosovo, CIA World Factbook, 2011. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/kv.html) Document dated April 20, 2011. Document accessed May 3, 2011
Front page picture

Wikipedia, Kosovo/EU flag 2011.
(http://www.google.dk/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Kosovo_EU.svg/541pxKosovo_EU.svg.png&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kosovo_EU.svg%3Fuselang%3D%26lt%3BLang%26gt%3B&usg=
__OKKApK58cz3jMC2jj8Hr5ie1fNE=&h=599&w=541&sz=24&hl=da&start=28&zoom=1&tbnid=XkASjFueEMIGkM:&tbnh=162&tbnw=146
&ei=CiLCTeThH4ebOqywxJ0I&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkosovo%2BEU%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dda%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D6
77%26tbm%3Disch0%2C711&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=135&vpy=286&dur=51&hovh=236&hovw=213&tx=129&ty=86&page=2&ndsp
=16&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:28&biw=1280&bih=677). Document
dated 9 March, 2011. Document assessed April 28,
2011
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