Institut für Politikwissenschaft

The EU, Regional Conflicts and the Promotion of Regional Cooperation: A Successful Strategy for a Global Challenge? (RegioConf)

Regional conflicts are a core global challenge in that they threaten international peace and affect global actors either because of economic and strategic interests or because of challenges to normative claims. The European Union (EU) has been seen as a normative power able to help transform such conflicts. A prominent strategy in this has been the promotion of regional integration through various forms of support for regional integration projects and strategies, from the Andean Community to the African Union. RegioConf aims at assessing this strategy by comparing EU involvement in different cases in the Mediterranean, Africa, Central and South America and East Asia.

The central question which RegioConf seeks to address in this context is: To what extent, and under which conditions, does the promotion of regional integration contribute to the positive transformation of regional conflicts?

In order to answer this question, the following aspects of regional integration will be addressed within the project:

In addressing these questions, RegioConf will enhance our understanding of a crucial part of EU external policy, make a contribution to the debate about sustainable peace strategies, and put forward policy recommendations about how to assist the transformation of regional conflicts more successfully.

Click here for more details about the project.

Project Team