Lund, Sweden, October 10, 2006
Does the European Union Promote Peace? Analysis, Critique and Alternatives Officially, the highest purpose of the EU is to promote peace in accordance with the UN Charter. The Union is frequently characterized as a peace project. But what is in fact meant by peace within EU circles? Research and debate about the peace capacities of the Union is virtually non-existent. Media has it that everything the Union does is peace. This handy book from TFF gives you the basic facts, theories and arguments and also some examples of what the EU could do to become a peace promoter. It's written for the concerned citizen and can be used in formal as well as informal education. It's likely to be an eye-opener for anyone who believes that the Union Treaty and Mr. Javier Solana embody the best of modern peace thinking and practise. In fact, the 60 year old UN Charter is much more visionary, says the author. In this report, the Danish/Swedish peace- and conflict researcher, Jan Oberg analyses EU¹s policies on defence, security, foreign policy, conflict management and peace. The general principles of the proposed EU Constitution, rejected by the French and Dutch voters, are also scrutinized. The report shows that the understanding of peace¹ in the proposed Constitution as well as in other central EU documents, is heavily influenced by a traditional military-based notion of defence and security. In contrast, very little is stated about civilian policies and conflict management. The many types of violence in- and outside Europe doesn¹t appear as a problem. Jan Oberg discusses two alternative approaches of peace, seen in relation to four dimensions: direct violence, structural violence, cultural violence, and environmental violence. While the word peace¹ only appears 8 times in the proposed Constitution, and conflict prevention only 5 times, defence/defence policy is mentioned 64 times and the military/combat forces 21 times. Reconciliation, disarmament and control of the arms trade are issues not mentioned and not present on EU¹s agenda at all, neither does the document mention that EU is nuclear-based. Irrespective of the fate of the Constitution, increased armament and militarization are destined to be key elements in EU policies. This is the more worrying since, as the report reveals, the European Union has neither a coherent analysis of future threats nor a credible European security doctrine. In summary, the European Union and its Constitution is far less consistent and visionary in its peace policies than the United Nations and its Charter. The report presents 25 constructive proposals which, if implemented, would make EU a much more genuine actor for peace which could challenge the militarist policies of the United States in a positive manner. Free download of PDF. http://transnational.org/forum/meet/2006/Oberg_EU_Promote_Peace.pdf Please make your honour payment for this publication - and help TFF do even more for peace: http://www.tff-store-and-donations.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TSD&Category_Code=CD There is also a Danish edition - and here is how you can order that and the English printed editions free of charge http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2005/Oberg_FremmerEUfreden.html Publisher The Danish think-tank NewAgenda http://www.nyagenda.dk Send TFF PressInfos and PeaceBrowser to a friend of mine mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] I don't want TFF PressInfo and PeaceBrowser mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If e-mails from TFF end up in your spam/junk e-mail folder please whitelist them yourself or notify your ISP or spam filtering company regarding their mistake. Also, if you have a Hotmail, Yahoo or similar type of account, remember to adjust your settings to ensure that TFF e-mails do get through to you. 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