Conflict prevention and the European union

The key goal of the fifty year unification process in Europe has been to bind the European countries together so as to ensure that they would not engage in war again as they had in earlier centuries. With its ‘civilian power’ image, conflict prevention as opposed to resolution has emerged as a more favourable area for the EU. This paper looks into the role of conflict prevention in EU's external policy. It examines the EU's approach to conflict prevention, which is mainly a long-term one. It also analyses the European Neighbourhood Policy as a conflict prevention tool. The aim is to explore the advantages, the criticisms and limitations, and the prospects for future for the Union.