Abstract
Since the Central African Republic (CAR) gained its independence from France in 1960, the country has been troubled with internal conflicts. The country’s instability is characterised by post-colonial ethnic tensions, poverty, crime, military coups, government corruption and a weak security sector. Following an escalation of conflicts in 2013 international actors such as the European Union began focussing their efforts on stabilising and rehabilitating the country. In 2014 the EU deployed a military operation with the overall goal of contributing to a safe and secure environment and providing humanitarian aid to the population. The operation was terminated on March 15, 2015 after having fulfilled its mandate. However, the effort was small-scale and geared towards meeting a set end date instead of contributing to a significant improvement of the overall security situation on the ground in CAR. The objective of this brief is to analyse the contribution of the 2014-2015 EU CSDP mission, EUFOR RCA, to the overall security situation in CAR. Given this objective, the following question is raised: What were the successes and shortcomings of the EUFOR RCA operation, and could anything have been done differently to increase effectiveness?