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The Sahel Crisis: Where do European and African Perspectives Meet?
The crisis in Mali has brought the Sahel to the centre of international attention. This fragile region not only suffers from longstanding development challenges, but also from an acute security vacuum that has triggered military intervention. Many questions have arisen as a consequence of the crisis. Has the European Union the ability to cope with such a complex and dynamically evolving security environment? How have divergent views on the political roadmap to be adopted, and the lack of resources at the African level, impacted the crisis response? Can the different players involved agree on what are the most pertinent needs and challenges to be addressed? Are they ready for long-term engagement? Can regional organisations effectively collaborate and are they able to successfully integrate different agendas? Following a conference organised by the Institute for European Studies, the Egmont Institute and the Observatoire de l’Afrique on these questions this Policy Brief builds on the findings of the conference and provides an analytical overview of the regional crisis by focusing on the main challenges facing the Sahel, the local and regional dynamics at play and the military and security response.
Egmont Institute, 2013
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Safeguarding the EDTIB: the Case for Supervising non-EU FDI in the Defence Sector
It is time for the EU member states to start collectively supervising non-EU FDI in Europe’s defence industries and infrastructures. This should be a prudent element of the nascent EDTIB and a way to maintain European security by encouraging greater coordination between the national supervisory frameworks.
Egmont Institute, 2012, No. 41
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How to Avoid the Three Pitfalls of European Strategy
European academics, think‐tankers and policy-makers make three consistent and critical errors when debating strategy: firstly, they do not clearly define what they mean by “strategy” – a problem that has long haunted the field of strategic studies; secondly, and as a result, they tend to speak of European strategic interests, all too often treating the EU as a unitary actor and overlooking the continued importance of national strategic interests in the formulation and conduct of EU foreign policy; and finally, and related to these two failings, they have a fixation with strategic objectives rather than focusing on the strategic methodology – both in a material and intellectual sense – that is to be used to pursue such objectives. Thinking about a European Global Strategy (EGS) must not commit the same errors.
Contribution to “Stocktaking of EU Strategising”, 2021
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How Europeanised has Maltese Foreign Policy Become?
This essay focuses on the degree to which Maltese foreign policy has become Europeanized because of its membership in the European Union. The author focuses on three trends resulting from the Europeanization process: first, the ways in which Malta’s national policies and political structures have become altered to meet the demands of EU membership; second, the manner in which Malta projects its own interests at the EU level; and third, the degree to which Maltese national identity has transformed since becoming an EU member state in 2004. The author then provides a brief overview of the particular national characteristics of Maltese politics.
Mediterranean Quarterly, 2010, Vol. 21, No. 3
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The French White Paper on Defence and National Security: NATO, Nuclear Weapons and Space
The 17 June unveiling of the French White Paper on Defence and National Security2 comes at a period of evolution in French defence and security policy. Reformation of its armed forces, its ambitions to re-integrate into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) military command and its plans to enhance the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), points to a renaissance in France’s role in international affairs. Analysing this metamorphosis, this article will navigate the reader through the development of the White Paper to its implications for military reform in France and its goals for the country’s strategic orientation over the next fifteen years. Following this, the article will then focus on three issues mentioned in the report that are particularly pertinent for the rest of the European Union ESDP: peacebuilding, NATO, nuclear weapons and space.
European Security Review, 2008, No. 40
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Daniel Fiott 