Turning an idea into reality: Creating the European Institute of Peace

Abstract

This article explains the creation of the European Institute of Peace (EIP) in May 2014. Combining constructivist insights on policy ideas with a framing approach, it proposes a conceptual framework to analyse the dynamics of interaction between state and non-state actors (NSAs) with regard to formulating new policies and creating new institutions. Focusing on the role of frame entrepreneurs, framing strategies and frame resonance, it argues that the creation of the EIP was a result of framing undertaken by an advocacy coalition in which Sweden and Finland, together with specialized NGOs and individual Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), played the role of frame entrepreneurs. This advocacy coalition managed to convince a number of European states there was a certain gap in the EU’s mediation capacities and that a new institution independent of the EU was needed to address it. The limited degree of frame resonance among the majority of EU member states and their reluctance to join the institute explain why the EIP initiative struggled to receive broad political support.

Conocimiento científico, conocimientos heterogéneos y construcción de paz: hacia una agenda de investigación sobre políticas y gobernanza del conocimiento en transiciones hacia la paz

“…-Transferencia de conocimiento, burocracia e instituciones. Esta entrada suministra evidencia sobre el papel que juegan las burocracias en la creación de instituciones de investigación para la paz, así como el poder de las instituciones internacionales como creadoras de conceptos y significados a través de la interacción entre "conocimiento experto" y "conocimiento local" sobre la paz (Lundgren, 2016;Bergmann, 2018;Oksamytna, 2018).…”

Effective Mediative Diplomacy and Its Seven Virtues: The Case of the European Union

“…2 In nearly a decade in this position, I have been actively involved in supporting the creation of European mediation capacities through research, mediation practice, and mediation support and was instrumental in the formation of the European Institute of Peace. 3 This position also puts me in a support role to several EU member states and regional organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the African Union, which I assisted in the establishment of mediation support structures. Finally, as a senior expert on process design for the United Nations (UN) Standby Team for Mediators, deployed globally, I gained a pertinent perspective of the UN dimension of peace mediation.…”