The European Union’s (EU) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and its
accompanying Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) missions are tools used
to increase the international profile of the EU. Using three different
databases, this study features a content analysis that evaluates how much and
what kind of media coverage CSDP missions receive. In general, the news
coverage is positive, but limited. This article argues that the problem is
structural: the very nature of the missions themselves, whether EU or NATO,
makes them poor vehicles for EU promotion for political, institutional, and
logistical reasons. By definition, they are conducted in the middle of crises,
making news coverage politically sensitive. The very act of reporting could
undermine the mission. Institutionally, all CSDP missions are
intergovernmental; therefore, the member states control the coverage.
Logistically, the missions are usually located in remote, undeveloped parts of
the world, making it difficult and expensive for European and international
journalists to cover. Moreover, these regions in crisis seldom have a
thriving, local free press. The author concludes that although a mission may
do good, CSDP missions cannot fulfill their primary political function of
raising the profile of the EU
