EU Civilian Crisis Management and the Police: The Cases of Afghanistan (EUPOL-Afghanistan) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUPM-Bosnia-Herzegovina)

In the aftermath of the Cold War, the European Union has established many mechanisms-both civilian and military- to become a global security actor. Its tasks defined by the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), police missions of the EU have appeared as the main civilian mechanism through which the EU contributed to the construction of international peace and security. This paper aims to compare the cases of EUPM-Bosnia-Herzegovina (2003-2012) and EUPOL-Afghanistan (2007-2016), two non-executive missions of the EU. By doing so, the paper explores similarities in the leading factors for these two missions, one in Europe and the other one in Central Asia, to limited success.