CSDP Partnerships, Partner Countries and Third States Civilian CSDP Missions

The Multistakeholder Initiative Approach to European Crisis Management: Civilian CSDP and Engagement with Local Non-state Actors

EUCAP Somalia Reports, articles, briefs Public 2024 Academic Journals 2025

This research article published by a Ph.D. Fellow at the European Security and Defence College examines EUCAP Somalia's practices in cooperation with Non-state actors (NSAs). It finds that current engagement is effective but too informal and insufficient, and encourages development of an official strategy for engagement, formalisation of outreach, and improving communication channels.

The author of this research paper uses a qualitative analysis of the activities of EUCAP Somalia to examine whether the principles of multistakeholder initiatives can be beneficially applied to the field of Civilian CSDP, specifically through engagement with local NSAs. Through their analysis, the author determines that a multistakeholder approach is beneficial, but there are problems with its current execution. Most engagements between the Mission and local NSAs in Somalia are informal and primarily occur on an ad hoc basis. This is partly due to the lack of an official strategy for NSA engagement.

This lack of strategy and structure means the Mission only partially lives up to its potential in building local ownership for crisis management, a core principle of CSDP. The author proposes that a formal strategy for NSA engagement be developed that can be used to establish formal, structured, regular communication with NSAs. This will allow the NSAs to provide grassroots input on security matters and problem-solving, and the Mission to build local ownership by engaging the NSAs directly in crisis management. 

This paper has useful recommendations for both EU policymakers and CSDP Mission staff engaging with NSAs in the field.

Reference: Dinca, A. (2024). The Multistakeholder Initiative Approach to European Crisis Management: Civilian CSDP and Engagement with Local Non-state Actors. Online Journal Modelling the New Europe.

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