Beyond the Development Aid:The Transformation of EU's Strategy towards the Sahel Region
With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the establishment of the European External Action Service,the EU introduced the Sahel Strategy in 2011,attempting to use a comprehensive approach to intervene the internal affairs of the Sahel region,expanding Europe's security borders to the Sahel region,and increasing the EU's influence in Africa.However,the excessive focus on security,especially the short-term goal of curbing immigration and refugees,has prevented the EU from effectively balancing different policy tools,and the EU's comprehensive approach exhibits a clear"securitization"characteristic.Although the use of military security measures has to some extent curbed the flow of refugees to Europe through the Sahel region,it has not made the Sahel region more secure.On the contrary,the frequent occurrence of military coups,the spread of terrorism,and the intensification of violent conflicts reflect that the Sahel region still faces a severe security situation.On the basis of analyzing the situation in the Sahel region and summarizing the experiences and lessons learned from the past decade,the EU introduced a new version of the Sahel Strategy in 2021,emphasizing the need to focus on governance when applying an integrated approach to address the root causes of conflicts in the Sahel region.From the perspective of policy narrative,the EU's Sahel strategy presents a transformation centered on governance.However,from a practical perspective,in the face of the prolonged Ukraine crisis and the intensification of power politics,the EU emphasizes the importance of strategic autonomy,and its intervention in the internal affairs of the Sahel region reflects a clear geopolitical competition among major powers.The zero-sum thinking of the EU makes it difficult to be a solver of the Sahel's challenges,but rather a part of the problems there.
European Union policy towards AfricaEU's Sahel Strategy"Council Conclusions on the European Union's Integrated Strategy in the Sahel"security governancecomprehensive approach
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