International Crisis Management: The Approach of European States

by Marc Houben

Overview

Over the past fifty years, crisis management has become essential to achieving and maintaining national security. This book offers a comparative analysis of the preconditions and constraints nine European states place on their participation in international crisis management operations and the important consequences of such decisions, and provides a theoretical framework to help the reader understand this complex decision-making process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415354554
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/10/2004
Series:	Routledge Studies in Governance and Change in the Global Era , #2
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Marc Houben holds master's degrees in philosophy and information management and a doctorate in social sciences. He has written about issues in philosophy, public policy, strategy and security and saw action in several crisis management operations as an officer in the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps.

Table of Contents

Part One: Problem definition and framework of analysis

1. Introduction and plan of the book

1.1 The double political problem of international crisis management

1.2 Preconditions versus 'criteria for intervention'

1.3 Research questions and methodology

1.4 Defining the key terms: ambiguities and conundrums

2. Elements of change

2.1 The twin processes of normalisation and domestication

2.2 Process and principles of self-organisation

2.3 On the nature of the crisis

3. Three propositions

3.1 States are sovereign, only marginally free

3.2 The imperative of cooperation

3.3 All states are constrained

Part Two: The case studies: a comparative analysis

4. Changing the rules:Belgium and the Netherlands

4.1 Belgium

4.2 The Netherlands

4.3 Concluding remarks

5. The imperative of consensus: Denmark and Norway

5.1 Denmark

5.2 Norway

5.3 Concluding remarks

6. The dominant government: the United Kingdom, France and Spain

6.1 The United Kingdom

6.2 France

6.3 Spain

6.4 Concluding remarks

7. The dominant parliament: Germany and Italy

7.1 Germany

7.2 Italy

7.3 Concluding remarks

Part Three: Comparative analysis and conclusions

8. National preconditions and multinational action

8.1 Nature and charactersistics of the national decision-making process

8.2 Do participation decisions fit a general pattern?

8.3 How and why do governments precondition their participation?

8.4 What are the consequences for multinational action?

9. The relation between government and parliament

9.1 Binding the government

9.2 Obtaining and sustaining domestic support

9.3 Does national decision-making improve if preconditions are formalised?

9.4 Parliamentary scrutiny and evaluation

9.5 Parliament as a democratic learning mechanism

Annex. The review framework of the Netherlands