The European Union's approach towards genocide

Abstract

This thesis explores the European Union’s performance in curtailing genocide on foreign shores, and seeks to establish an evolution of its intervention efforts in these scenarios. Both the concept of genocide and the European project emerged from the ashes of World War II, with the aspiration of avoiding similar destruction in the future. Despite the post-War push, which culminated in the adoption of the Genocide Convention by the United Nations General Assembly on the 9th of December 1948, the call for ‘Never again Auschwitz’ was not heeded. Today, genocides rage on in different continents despite the mechanisms and outward disdain of the international community. The EU has only sought to conduct proper intervention campaigns following the end of the Cold War, a period which was characterised by aspirations to emerge out of the shadows of other global superpowers, and solidify itself as a force in global crisis management. This vision has not yet materialised, and the Union has endured failure after failure in this field, which are explored in this thesis via a number of case studies. The sources of its ineffectiveness are plentiful, and range from internal disagreement to a lack of political will. Despite the EU’s crisis management and conflict prevention coming on leaps and bounds in the past decade, many of the recurring themes which plagued the intervention efforts of yesteryear are still relevant today. With that being said, the Union has enough tools at its disposal to be a difference-maker, and new developments in its crisis management and defence policies offer promise and a cause for cautious optimism.