This innovative and timely consideration of the European Union’s crisis response mechanisms brings together scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds to examine how and why the EU responds to crises on its borders and further afield. The work is based on extensive fieldwork in – among other places – Afghanistan, Libya, Mali and Iraq.

The book considers the construction of crises and how some issues are deemed crises and others not. A major finding from this comparative study is that EU crisis response interventions have been placing increasing emphasis on security and stabilisation and less emphasis on human rights and democratisation. This changes – quite fundamentally – the EU’s stance as an international actor and leads to questions about the nature of the European Union and how it perceives itself and is perceived by others.

An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.

'The contribution of The EU and Crisis Response is dual. First, this work recognizes the importance of engaging with doctrinal debates on EU’s responses to crises. Therefore, the authors propose a new approach – critical crisis transformation – that aims to address the shortcomings of the first three generations of crisis response. Second, the book critically examines the gap between intentions, implementation, and perceptions of EU interventions.'
Antoine Yenk, International Peacekeeping

'In sum, the book makes a valuable contribution both conceptually and empirically. The innovative framework and clear conceptual discussions, in combination with a wealth of empirical information from a range of diverse case studies makes this book valuable to anyone with an interest in international responses to crisis and conflict not just in the EU context, but also beyond.'
Dr. An Jacobs, Nottingham Trent University, IEUSS Review of Books

Roger Mac Ginty is Professor at Durham University

Sandra Pogodda is a Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester

Oliver P. Richmond is Professor of International Relations, Peace, and Conflict at the University of Manchester