the current discourse on Syria, Iraq, ISIS/DAESH and the link to the EU

 (Photo AP)


I will in the coming days  and weeks submit a number of comments to the proposed elements for a regional strategy on Syria, Iraq and ISIS/DAESH put forward by the High Representative Mogherini and the European Commission in a communication  dated 5 February 2015.

This is one of the first examples of what the new leadership would see as a comprehensive approach to external conflicts and crises. 

Three questions arise: 

First, does it cover the scope of the current international debate?

And secondly, from an EU perspective: does it cover the relevant policy perspectives  in EU security policy outlined in the handbook on EU and security which I will publish shortly, based upon many interviews inside the institutions.   

Third: The EU tried once before in 2013 to put forward  a communication on Syria  labelled a comprehensive approach to the crisis. To what extent does the new communication represent progress in terms of comprehensiveness? 

On the issue of the international discourse, a number of detailed presentations of the discussion are available on the web. For the purpose of the discussion of an EU strategy to the crisis a relevant contribution has recently been made by Amir Madani, Huffington Post.

In brief, he makes links not least to the following main issues which he characterises as tactical and strategic:

-- Military presence to limit the expansion of terrorist acts
-- Recognition and engagement with the institutions of the regimes currently in place
-- Negotiations with current Syrian institutions
-- Iran and the resolution of the WMD issue.
-- The resolution of the Palestine Israel issue
-- Turkey and its relationship to Europe
-- Support to the Iraqi government including in enacting major reforms promoting more inclusiveness.
-- Possible regional conference under the auspices of the UN Security Council and including the United States, Europe, China, Russia, and important participation by Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
--  Supporting civil society throughout Arabia

To  what extent does the European Union in its approach to the region include these various elements -  and others -  into the analysis of its potential comprehensive approach?

This I will try to explore  in one on my following blog posts in pursuit of an enhanced EU comprehensive approach to external conflicts  and crises.  

The proof of the pudding - after all -   is to be found in concrete case studies. 

That this is a crucial discourse also for the internal security of the EU should not least be obvious from the graph below published recently in Washington Post: 

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