Military rapid response mechanisms are generally understood as troops that are on standby, ready to be deployed to a crisis within a short time frame. Yet, the overall track record of the existing multinational rapid response mechanisms within the European Union, the African Union, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains disappointing, and the United Nations does not even have a rapidly deployable capacity anymore. Meanwhile, despite that calls for the further development of these mechanisms are still being voiced politically, scholarly literature remains fragmented. This is problematic as many of the obstacles faced by these organizations are similar. This forum uniquely compares experiences from the four aforementioned organizations.
Forum: Multinational Rapid Response Mechanisms
Yf Reykers & John Karlsrud
Multinational rapid response mechanisms: Past promises and future prospects
Joachim A. Koops & Alexandra Novosseloff
United Nations rapid reaction mechanisms: Toward a global force on standby?
Jens Ringsmose & Sten Rynning
The NATO Response Force: A qualified failure no more?
Yf Reykers
EU Battlegroups: High costs, no benefits
Linda Darkwa
The African Standby Force: The African Union’s tool for the maintenance of peace and security