The double-edged sword of democracy: How democracy promotion is used in the European Union's prevention of terrorism in the southern Mediterranean

Abstract

Terrorism is a horror haunting the world. Different approaches are used to fight terrorism internationally, focusing on security as well as social policy. On policy-level, the European Union poses democracy promotion as one social policy approach to prevent terrorism. Democracy is supposed to create resilient societies, resistant to terrorism. However, research on whether democracy prevents terrorism is inconclusive. Indeed, insufficient democratisation may spur terrorism. To unravel how the EU uses democracy promotion to prevent terrorism in the southern Mediterranean is therefore crucial. Based on interviews with EU representatives, this article concludes that the EU's external action does not reflect the policy documents' focus on democracy promotion in preventing terrorism. While respondents regard democracy promotion as important in preventing terrorism, it is not prioritised. Instead, terrorism prevention is largely securitised, following the lead of Mediterranean partner states. Research warns that such securitisation, coupled with insufficient democratisation, risk causing instead of preventing terrorism.