Publication of the I Sahel-Europe Dialogue Forum
18 June 2021
Security in the Mediterranean region is one of the greatest challenges facing states in Euro-Mediterranean relations. For the past decade, the effects of the Arab Spring have created a context of instability in which risks and threats of different kinds have accumulated. Moreover, the Arab uprisings have not only multiplied these factors, but have also favoured their expansion beyond the Mediterranean basin. Today, a strategic approach makes it necessary to approach the Maghreb-Sahel region as an inevitably connected space. The future of the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean is one of the priority interests of the EU's external projection. In 2016, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Global Strategy document, among the lines of action in the Mediterranean, already mentioned the Maghreb-Sahel, that great southern border, and included the need to invest in African peace and development as part of the European Union's security and prosperity.
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Main researchers:
Mª Dolores Algora Weber. Researcher at the International Security Centre of the Francisco de Vitoria University. Researcher on the R&D Project: "Crisis and processes of regional change in North Africa. Its implications for Spain". Coordinator of the Panel "Climate Change and Security in the Sahel" of the Sahel-Europe Dialogue Forum, promoted by the International Security Centre of the Francisco de Vitoria University.
M. Abakar Mahamat Zougoulou. Scientific and Technical Director of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall.
Expert collaborators who have helped in the drafting of this document:
Oriol Puig Cepero. Researcher with the CIDOB's CASCADES project on climate change and food security in the Western Sahel.
This analysis forms part of an ongoing line of research by the Centre for International Security on the Sahel Dialogue. Following the Sahel-Europe Dialogue Forum organised in March 2021, the speakers belonging to the Sahel-Europe Dialogue Forum Expert Group have deepened the themes of their conferences, analysing the shared challenges, and the opportunities for cooperation for our common challenges. The political crises in Mali and Chad link the security crisis to governance challenges in these states, where the presence of self-defence militias and jihadist groups hinder economic and social development. In such a changing environment, with the Sahel being Europe's advanced frontier, it is now more important than ever to promote a space for dialogue in which both regions can share, cooperate and propose innovative solutions. This series of publications, as well as the Sahel-Europe Dialogue Forum, have received a grant from the General Secretariat for Defence Policy of the Ministry of Defence.
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