PERSPECTIVE Caught in the Crossfire United Nations Security and Policy Perspectives on the Refugee Crisis CLAIRE HAJAJ AND TUESDAY REITANO June 2016 Foreword There can be no doubt that the refugee crisis possesses a security dimension. Armed conflicts with scant prospect of speedy resolution are driving people to seek refuge abroad. Their growing numbers represent an enormous challenge for a string of states – from the immediate neighbourhood with its gigantic refugee camps through the transit countries to the Member States of the European Union. What does this mean for the European security order and its central actors, first and foremost the United Nations(UN), the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union(CSDP) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)? How does the crisis affect the German armed forces, facing increasing demands at home on top of growing obligations abroad? How does the refugee crisis alter the role and self-perception of the security institutions, and what influence does it exert on ongoing strategy processes? The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has asked renowned experts to analyse the impact of the refugee crisis on the UN, the CSDP, the OSCE, and the German armed forces. The resulting papers will be published within the next months, starting with this analysis on the impact of the refugee crisis on the UN. In their analysis, Claire Hajaj and Tuesday Reitano examine the current turmoil in the relationship between the EU and the UN. The self-perception of the EU as a liberal and inclusive Union of states is now deeply challenged by massive immigration and growing blimpish nationalism, while, at the same time, the UN unapologetically points at the obligations resulting from international law. The West, according to the UN, has not done enough to fight the root causes of the refugee crisis and has left transit countries alone for too long. This conflict between normative principles on the one hand and a pragmatist approach on the other partly results from the identity crisis the UN is currently facing: Can the UN be the guardian of the international order and at the same time serve as vehicle for the West´s international security policy? Is the influence of the UN today limited to poorer countries or does it(still) have the necessary authority to broker solutions at a global level? Claire Hajaj and Tuesday Reitano, in analysing the UN approach to the refugee crisis, reveal the structural and identity-related challenges the UN face while describing positive developments and possible solutions to the UN´s impasse. Anna Maria Kellner Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung