Analysing EU’s Sahel strategies: A civilian approach in the era of pragmatism
Analysing EU’s Sahel strategies: A civilian approach in the era of pragmatism

Author(s): Vojtěch Freitag
Subject(s): International relations/trade, Developing nations, Geopolitics
Published by: EUROPEUM - Institut pro evropskou politiku
Summary/Abstract: In the past few months, developments in the vast African Sahel region are once again becoming a concern for the European policymakers. Attacks in Burkina Faso, a violent death of the Chadian president or a second coup d’état in Mali in a year followed by a recent French announcement of suspension of Operation Barkhane, all of these events prove significant for the EU in the light of its extensive engagement in the region, embodied, among other things, with two civilian (EUCAP Sahel Mali and Niger) and one military mission (EUTM Mali) under the CSDP umbrella. This April, the EU has unveiled and adopted a brand-new long-term 2021 Sahel strategy, which should reflect the turbulent development and better coordinate the multiple policies and instruments the EU pursues in the region. Does it signal a notable change in EU’s course of action in Sahel? How does it relate to the ‘pragmatist turn’ in the EU’s foreign policy? And what particular issues do the three CSDP missions face? This paper aims to address these questions by analysing past and present EU Sahel strategies and practices, positions them into the wider EU foreign policy context, and presents a recommendation to a specific aspect that remains challenging.

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