The Case for a Public Administration Turn in the Study of the Eu's Civilian Crisis Management

This contribution argues for extending the public administration turn in EU studies to the civilian Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). First it delineates the research gap with regard to governance networks and sections of the Council Secretariat that fulfil executive and operational management responsibilities for civilian crisis management. Then it highlights the need to look at cognitive factors, such as bounded rationality and learning, in explaining organizational behaviour and change in civilian CSDP. Such a research agenda on the everyday working of the bureaucratic level in EU civilian crisis management would also allow more comparative analyses on administrative processes and reforms in international organizations in the context of multidimensional peace operations.