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Content archived on 2024-06-18
Beyond Sovereignty: Delegation and Agency in International Security

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The politics of multinational military cooperation

How and why sovereign states delegate important functions in the field of security is examined through an innovative comparative approach.

It is known that international organisations such as the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the EU have an active part in military operations. Commands are often given in dangerous environments. The EU-funded 'Beyond sovereignty: Delegation and agency in international security' (BEYONDSOVEREIGNTY) project delved into the ways in which such international organisations create multinational military operations. Since military command and control are usually nationally based, a collective deployment of troops using international organisations requires major coordination. Centralisation is one means of coping with this challenge, that is, by creating permanent secretariats in Brussels and New York to plan and conduct military missions. The project uncovered the politics of such multinational cooperation and how the secretariats have developed as well as their contribution to military mandates. Officials who have first-hand accounts of military interventions were interviewed. Results of the work have been published in numerous academic journals and a monograph comparing the politics of multinational military force across international organisations. This will help policymakers in ground missions, national ministries and third parties like non-governmental organisations.

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