Military in Mali: The EU’s Action against Instability in the Sahel Region

Abstract:

The conflict eruption in the Sahel during the last years has provoked new challenges for the European Union's security architecture. Notably the toppling of Libyan long-time leader Muammar al-Qaddafi in summer 2011 negatively affected many countries' stability in the adjacent Sahel region. The EU's 'Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel' in March 2011 suggested a combination of soft and hard policies to foster stabilization and political progress in line with the 2003 European Security Strategy through a Comprehensive Approach. This article analyses to what extent the EU's actions in the region have indeed contributed to conflict resolution. It evaluates the overall effectiveness of the implementation of the EU's Comprehensive Approach, and underlines five critical aspects that might provoke rather worse than better results in the Sahel. The guiding hypothesis is that the increased use of military means lowers the EU's impact on peaceful conflict resolution in the region, as the lost impartiality hinders its chances for civilian success. The Malian malaise, therefore, poses fundamental questions for the EU's Comprehensive Approach towards security and stability - particularly at times when in Brussels the European Neighbourhood Policy and the European Security Strategy are under thorough review.