The “5,000-kilometre screwdriver”: German and French police training in Afghanistan through the EU and NATO

This article investigates the policing assistance provided by Germany and France in Afghanistan through the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Despite being members of both organizations, Germany and France varied in their engagement with the two organizations’ missions as well as in their strategies about police training in Afghanistan. Whereas Germany was a leading contributor to the EU mission, it did not formally operate under NATO mission’s command. On the other hand, France was a key contributor to the latter mission, whilst being more reluctant to take part in the first. Using evidence drawn from the documents at national, EU- and NATO-levels, US cables, academic and news articles as well as interviews with practitioners and experts, this article argues that these two member states’ police training strategies were shaped primarily by their domestic politics and broader foreign policy orientations, rather than the local conditions and realities on the ground. A key policy recommendation is that, while paying attention to the local environment of police training is crucial, policymakers should also plan the delivery of policing assistance by considering the political dynamics in their own constituencies

The European Union and the Libyan Crisis

This article investigates the European Union (EU)\u2019s answer to the Libya crisis of 2011 to show the unresolved dilemmas of an intergovernmental approach to foreign and defence policies. The Lisbon Treaty has institutionalized a dual constitution or decision-making regime: supranational for the policies of the single market, and intergovernmental for the policies traditionally at the core of national sovereignty, such as foreign and defence policies. In the most significant test for the EU foreign and defence policies in the post-Lisbon era, the intergovernmental approach generated unsatisfactory outcomes because it was unable to solve structural and institutional problems of collective action. Without revising the intergovernmental constitution, it will be difficult for the EU as an actor to play a role in international politics in the future. International Politics (2014) 51, 177\u2013195. doi:10.1057/ip.2014.