A rethink of the EU’s strategy in the Sahel: from problematic policy-making to a new ‘transformative pragmatism’

Abstract

The Sahel has become primordial for European interests. Up to three different strategies (2011, 2015 and 2021) have been drawn up by the EU to underpin the mechanisms and instruments needed to intervene in a region that is increasingly perceived as a security problem. The political volatility and the level of violence, the concern about migratory flows through the region, and the growing impact of the climate crisis on the deterioration of food security and the living conditions of the local population are factors that have placed the Sahel at the centre of the EU's agenda. This report undertakes a strategic review of the strategies of the EU for the Sahel from a critical perspective that highlights the broadly securitized framework that hasinfluenced them. Finally, the report provides a rethink of the EU’s strategy in the Sahel based on the production of critical knowledge as a starting point, the need to redefine core issues that have informed EU policies, and the development of “transformative pragmatism” as a guiding principle for future action.