Abstract
Abstract The overlapping of a series of events in the region has brought the Sahel under the spotlight of many European countries. It has been argued that the peculiar transnational nature of many terrorist groups of the area represents a concrete threat to European security. France, specifically, has led and encouraged a series of European initiatives, which aim to stabilize the region, calling for different degrees of counterterrorism cooperation with its European allies. Many European countries, such as Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, or Italy, have indeed increased their engagement in the area. Yet, not only a variety of new actors are now involved in the response to terrorism, but European cooperation among key actors is also developing along political-strategic, organizational, and procedural dimensions largely unexplored by the existing literature. This paper specifically accounts for the different multilevel configurations of European counterterrorism cooperation in the Sahel between 2012 and 2018. More specifically, the aim of this contribution is twofold. First, theoretically, through the concept of “patchwork” the paper proposes a conceptual framework able to investigate and analyze the apparently confusing multidimensional and multi-actor European cooperation in counterterrorism. Second, it empirically researches and analyzes the types of cooperation and the actors that fulfil key strategic positions in the patchwork. Overall, this paper provides a first complete account of the universe of European actors involved in the region and the types of cooperative patterns.
Highlights
On May 24th 2021, the Malian President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were arrested after 18 months transition following a coup in August 2020
France has led and encouraged a series of European initiatives aiming at stabilizing the region, while calling for different degrees of counterterrorism cooperation with its allies
This paper has addressed the question of cooperation through the analysis of the existing European counterterrorism patchwork in the Sahel region
Summary
On May 24th 2021, the Malian President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were arrested after 18 months transition following a coup in August 2020. The Sahel works as a perfect laboratory (Lopez Lucia 2017) for many European actors to pursue their different agendas converging in the fight against terrorism while generating crucial political, social, and economic consequences (Cold-Ravnkilde and Lindskov Jacobsen 2020).13 The discussion and analysis of power dynamics and relational implications of forms of security interventionism, such as counterterrorism, in the region are beyond the intent of this paper.14 there is an important point to be made about counterterrorism as a crucial issue area displaying much political legitimacy and allowing a number of actors to collaborate in this security field.
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