Causes, rationales and dynamics : exploring the strategic security partnership between the European Union and Africa

Abstract

This study examines a strategic partnership in the areas of peace and security between the EU and Africa. The EU has been strengthening its institutional ties with African organisations since 2000, with security relations with Africa a priority on the EU’s agenda following the 9/11 attacks on the United States of America. The study shows the driving forces behind the establishment of the partnership, arguing that the EU’s economic interests have played a significant role in its development. In addition, new global threats and challenges, such as immigration issues, climate change, international terrorism, conflicts, and the emerging global actors in Africa have affected the EU’s current foreign and security policy towards Africa. Norms and ideas also contribute to the emergence of the notion of strategic security partnership, but to a lesser extent. Drawing on literature, the method of process-tracing, and p rimary, secondary and tertiary sources, this dissertation opens up previously unexplored aspects of security relations between the two continents. Against the historical background of colonialism and recent moves to continental confederation and globalism, it seeks to determine why the EU has consolidated its institutional relations with African organisations.