From the ‘laboratory’ to the ‘arena’: the EU’s quest for maturity and the instrumentalisation of conflict in Africa

Pye, Katherine (2024) From the ‘laboratory’ to the ‘arena’: the EU’s quest for maturity and the instrumentalisation of conflict in Africa. European Security, 33 (3). 474 - 496. ISSN 0966-2839

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Abstract

Since the 2000s the EU has used African conflicts as “laboratories” to develop its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and to mature its profile as a security actor; half of all CSDP missions have been deployed on the continent. However, the ineffectiveness of these missions, accusations of neocolonialism and the increasing appeal of Russian security assistance have raised fundamental questions about the legitimacy and efficacy of the CSDP model. Using a postcolonial decentring framework, which facilitates a clearer focus on African agency, I analyse why the EU has been unable to make sense of Russia’s increasingly prominent role in African security. Through interviews with EU staff, document analysis and fieldwork in Mali, this paper explores how the EU’s instrumentalisation of Africa as a “laboratory” – which positioned the continent as a depoliticised testing ground, with limited regard for the effectiveness of these tests – has had counterproductive effects on its long-term influence. It has left the EU unable to fathom why its geopolitical rivals enjoy popularity in Africa or to respond appropriately. In its preoccupation with its own maturation process, the EU has disregarded the agency of Africans and this myopia has been deliberately exploited by Russia.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/feus20
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author
Divisions:	International Relations
Subjects:	J Political Science J Political Science > JZ International relations
Date Deposited:	08 Jul 2024 10:03
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2024 20:57
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124119

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