Africa as a Source of Instability and its Influence on European Security and Defense Policy

Abstract

The key question behind this study is to what point the instability in Africa influences the security policy or strategy of the European Union (EU). The hypothesis we work with is that the situation in Africa does not condition a long-term strategy of the EU because Europe is reactive and of limited ambition when it deals with Africa, basing itself on partial plans. Europe dealt with Africa as a geopolitical entity, although in recent years it has been focusing on three vital regions: the Sahel, the Gulf of Guinea and the Horn of Africa.

The importance of these regions for Europe is the threat that is posed by the link between the jihad and organized crime, taking advantage of the illegal trafficking routes and of porous borders. To prove or discard the hypotheses we have made use of the comparative method basing the study on indicators that feed three main dimensions: Governance, Security and Development. We pretend to measure the evolution of instability of a handpicked number of cases belonging to the three aforementioned regions. This will be done in the periods 2008-2011 and 2011-2014. Thus, we assess the dynamics of the situation and the reactivity of the EU in its security and defense strategy.