The EU's preventive diplomacy : practice makes (not yet) perfect?

The EU's approach to preventive diplomacy is embedded in a wider ambition to 'preserve peace, prevent conflicts and strengthen international security'. Given deteriorating security and increasing geopolitical tensions worldwide, it is evident that preventive diplomacy requires sustained and enhanced attention by the EU. Regarded as a credible and reliable partner - as well as an international frontrunner in preventive diplomacy - continued violence and conflict in Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh, Kosovo, and Israel/Palestine over the past months, increasing geopolitical tensions and competition, weakening multilateralism, and the complexity of violent geopolitical contexts worldwide prove that the EU must re-assert its commitment to preventive diplomacy. The recommendations contained in this analysis chart a path forward to address implementation gaps, provide greater political steer to the EU's preventive engagement, contribute to more effective use of this tool, and ensure it is more centrally positioned in the integrated approach.