Institutional Competition - Lessons Learnt from the Gulf of Aden Operations

Sammanfattning: Since 2009 the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have conducted counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean to tackle Somalia based piracy. As the two organizations are arguably the most important security providers for Europe they have also moved towards managing the similar tasks in military and crisis management operations. As Brussels officials and academics are debating duplication of efforts and competition, staff from operational level has emphasized the excellent cooperation which takes place below the surface of political level in the operations. This thesis studies the effects of institutional competition between the European Union and NATO in their respective counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa. It takes the approach that there is a case of institutional competition, but that this competition generates positive outcomes such as learning and experimentation, increased transparency as well as new solutions.