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The EU Response to the Tsunami and the Need for a Human Security Approach

The European Union has in recent years become more ambitious in terms of its global role. Numerous missions – military, civilian and now also combined – have been and are being carried out under an EU flag. While the European Security Strategy has given the EU a point of departure for a common vision on security policy, the humanitarian and developmental aspects of EU foreign policy have remained somewhat separate from these developments, and many in the development community have viewed the EU’s new ambitions with some suspicion, considering them as ‘interventionist’ and privileging a security over a development agenda. The European response to the tsunami offers interesting new insights in relation to these developments. This paper focuses on the situations in Aceh and Sri Lanka, and concentrates on the policies towards the people affected by disasters rather than on environmental responses or prevention mechanisms. Using the four themes of response and coordination, the impact of the tsunami and the response on the conflicts in Sri Lanka and Aceh, the sustainability of post-tsunami policies, and the effects of the tsunami in terms of European public opinion, this paper argues that the EU should be less focused on building capabilities, and much more on developing a coherent common vision guiding all its external policies.