Ontological Security and the European Union Global Strategy
Ontological Security and the European Union Global Strategy

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the relationship between identity and security policies by critically engaging with the European Union Global Strategy (2016). It employs a conceptual perspective derived from ontological security, whereby identity is a socio-psychological construct that requires consistency over time and external recognition. The methodology of discourse analysis has been used to show how the meanings about the European Union’s identity as security provider have been (re)articulated, which indicates the ongoing search for ontological security. The Global Strategy has proposed a more grounded vision for the European Union’s international role, among which the move from democracy promotion to the fostering of resilience. The redefinitions were a necessary step to address the unstable foundations of the European Union’s identity narratives, considering the failed expectations of the European Security Strategy (2003) in general and the problematic eastern vicinity in particular. However, the discoursive shifts within the Global Strategy are only a temporary solution and cannot reinforce the Union’s ontological security in the long run. They have not surpassed the fundamental challenges faced by the European Union in its quest to become a credible security provider, affirmed by other international security actors and the empirical reality.

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