Between theory and practice: The African Peace Facility and the securitization of EU development policy

Abstract

The African Peace Facility (APF), recently replaced by the European Peace Facility, was the EU's primary mechanism to fund African-led peace and security operations. The Facility introduced several changes to EU policy, including a new funding structure: The APF was financed by the European Development Fund, even though the Facility was ineligible as Official Development Assistance. This sparked a debate among policymakers and academic scholars about whether the APF has securitized EU development policy. However, many studies neglect the security-development nexus, which played a central role in the Facility. The thesis analyses securitizing practices which are distinct from the approach suggested by the classic securitization theory (i.e., the speech act). Through an in-depth analysis of primary and secondary sources, this thesis attempts to unpack the extent to which the APF securitized EU development policy. The analysis finds evidence of securitization but also of a developmentization of security policy, demonstrating how the Facility constantly oscillated between security and development and concludes that the APF embodied the securitydevelopment nexus. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)