This contribution seeks to develop a mid-range theory explaining the relationship between EU agency and contextual conditions for success in conflict management. The paper posits that the outcome and impact of EU conflict management is contextually conditioned, however, the EU itself can shape these conditions. Building on the exiting literature in international security studies and foreign policy analysis, the paper posits that the context in which EU conflict management operations are implemented is three-dimensional: it encompasses the international, the European and the local context in which the forces operate. Through a comparative case study of the operations to date, this paper finds that there are conditions at each of these contextual levels, which are necessary for a conflict management operation to succeed. However, the EU, its member states and institutions may have an impact upon these. The paper concludes that the relationship between the actors within each of these three categories and the processes of cooperation (or lack thereof) between them affect the impact of such operations. This paper seeks to explain how and why.
