241 Miguel A. Acosta Sánchez Regarding the scope of competence of peacekeeping... INTRODUCTION Military operation Sophia in Mediterranean waters is, without a doubt, one of the greatest challenges that the so-called Common Security and Defense Policy of the EU has faced in recent years. In fact, the peculiarity of the migration crisis and the traditionally compartmentalized fields of competence of the Armed Forces have opened a major debate about the feasibility of resorting to military means to face threats, which is traditionally characteristic of national security. In fact, it has been argued that, faced with a crisis, the only acceptable response was the use of police and civilian means, particularly within the scope of the Space of Freedom, Se-curity and Justice, and of the operational ability of the newly created European Border and Coast Guard Agency. In this study, we first intend to analyze the evolution and scope of peacekeeping operations within the United Nations as well as the European Union in order, in second place, to identify Operation Sophia as a Petersberg operation as per Article 43 TUE, praeter legem or, at least, set it within a broad interpretation of the diverse operating modalities. All of this, in view of a world view that requires a global and coordinated response from all available means within national and foreign policy, and in order to face the new threats of the 21st century. ON THE SCOPE OF THE CONCEPT OF SECURITY AND ITS THREATS IN THE 21ST CENTURY The classic notion of the concept of Security, in other words, the territorial defense of the State, underwent a major change at the end of the Cold War. Thus, outstanding events such as the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the democratization of the Communist bloc led to a broadening of the concept of Security, considering that there is a progres-sive reduction of the possibility of an armed attack against the territory of a State, that is to say, an act of aggression characteristic of the foreign dimension of Security1. In 1 A overview analysis of the concept of Security, in, ACIMOVIC, L., Problems of Security and Cooperation in Europe, Sijthoff and Noordhoff, Alphen aan den Rijn, 1981; ACOSTA SÁNCHEZ, M.A., “Coopération et Sécurité aux frontières extérieures européennes: le cas du détroit de Gibraltar”, Annuaire Français de Droit International, 2008, vol. 54, pp. 197-225, on pp. 198-202;ÁLVAREZ VERDUGO, M., La política de seguridad y defensa de la UE, Ed. Dykinson, Madrid, 2004, pp. 29-59; BISCOP, S., The European Security Strategy. A Global Agenda for Positive Power, Ed. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2005, pp. 1-14; BOOTH, K., New Thinking About Strategy and International Security, Ed. Harper Collins, London, 1991; BUZAN, B., “New Patterns of Global Security in the Twenty-First Century”, International Affairs, 1991, vol. 67, n° 3, pp. 431-451; COLLET, A., Défense et Sécurité Internacionales face au défis du XXI siècle, Ed. Lavauzelle, Paris, 2005, pp. 9-10; DAVID, D., Sécurité: l´après – New York, Presses de Sciences Po, Paris, 2002, pp. 9-22; DE MONTBRIAL, T., KLEIN, J., Diccionaire de Stratégie, PUF, Paris, 2000, pp. 500-502; ECHEVERRÍA JESUS, C., Relaciones Internacionales III. Paz, seguridad y defensa en la Sociedad Internacional, UNED, Madrid, 2013; GHEBALI, V.-Y., SAUERWEIN, B., European Security in the 1990s: Challenges and Perspectives, UNIDIR, Gèneve, 1995, pp. 3 and ss; SHAW, M., “There is no such Thing as Society: Beyond Individualism and Statism in International Security Studies”, Review of Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 12 - Año: 2018 - Págs.: 239 a 272
Revista_IEEE_12
To see the actual publication please follow the link above