This thesis explores the factors that explain varying degrees of coherence in European Union (EU) crisis management and draws implications for its role as an international security actor. The analysis starts from the assumption that coherence is a function of competing and conflicting interests and norms. The influence and interaction of these factors across governance levels are viewed through two theoretical lenses: liberal intergovernmentalism and sociological institutionalism. Derived hypotheses are evaluated through a comparative case study design, focused on three instances of crisis management in Africa, namely Libya (2011), Somalia (2011-2012), and Mali (2012-2013). The analysis traces the activities and interaction of EU institutional actors and member states, with a focus on France, the United Kingdom (UK), and Germany. It suggests that the degree of coherence in EU crisis management is contingent on the congruence of domestic economic and electoral interests, as well as national threat perceptions. But it also depends on the extent to which EU-level coherence norms resonate with national norms on the use of force and preferred modes of multilateral cooperation. The study identifies scope conditions for the interaction of interests and norms: if economic and electoral stakes are high and calculable, interest-based calculation prevails. If, instead, decision-makers are faced with low stakes and uncertainty, embedded national norms are more likely to shape their behaviour. The Union thus represents a rather unpredictable security actor, whose multi-level coherence depends on the context-specific balance between domestically defined interests, stakes, and salient norms.

This study aims to analyze the policy success of the two economic adjustment programmes introduced to solve the Greek debt crisis to better understand the EU's change and development after dealing with crises. The analysis uses McConnell’s (2010) policy evaluation framework, which enables the study to see what degree/spectrum of policy success occurred and which of the five policy areas were more or less successful. The findings of this study conclude that the crisis management policies are leaning towards the spectrum of success and that there is an incentive to suggest that policy success is a factor contributing to the EU's organizational change and development, but that more research is needed to confirm it as a significant factor. Furthermore, the study does reveal which policy success areas can be a bigger cause for the EU’s change and development, them being more achieved implementation, the targeted policy group/actor seeing benefit without damaging other groups/actors, and there being minor opposition aimed towards the policies introduced in crises.

The objective of this thesis is to analyze whether the EU can be considered as a &lsquo / limited&rsquo / military/strategic actor or as a civilian actor in the Post-Cold War international security architecture. In this framework, the impacts of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the US-led war in Iraq on the EU crisis management capabilities are analyzed more specifically. In this framework, firstly, the historical dynamics of European foreign and security policy from the Post-World War II period to the Post-September 11 period are analyzed. Secondly, the EU&rsquo / s changing role in the international arena together with its crisis management capability is evaluated. Thirdly, the EU&rsquo / s international actorness in the Post-September 11 era is discussed with a special reference to the US-led war in Iraq. In this general framework, following a brief analysis on reactions of the US and the EU against global terrorism, crisis management strategy of the EU during and after US-led war in Iraq is analyzed in detail. The last part allocated to, a critical analysis of the security actorness of the EU is made in order to conceptualize it and to draw a more theoretical framework. Moreover, it is mentioned in this thesis that while having triggering effect on the CFSP and ESDP, the 9/11 events and the US-led war in Iraq provides the emergence of new methods for crisis management and the European Security Strategy. Accordingly, considering the new international security context beginning with the end of Cold War period and transforming to another dimension by means of September 11 attacks, the main argument of this thesis is that the EU still tends to be a civilian actor as it was before and it is envisaged to be so in the foreseeable future despite its latest attempts to develop its common security and defence policies.