Explaining the EU’s Security and Defence Policy: The Need for Three-Level Analysis

Although there is not a general agreement among its member states on where the EU should take action, the EU has launched more than 30 crisis management missions since 2003. This article argues that explaining the EU’s action in crisis management requires a three-level analysis that highlights the interaction between the individual member states, the EU’s institutional context and the international levels. Limiting the analysis to the interaction between the EU and its member states will not provide an answer to why and how the EU launches certain missions, whilst it fails to launch others. This argument will be explored through the crisis management missions the EU launched and failed to launch in Africa