In the name of human rights: the problematics of EU ethical foreign policy in Africa and elsewhere
This doctoral research project explores avenues to research ethically defined foreign policy differ ently, i.e. in ways that more systematically account for its counterproductive elements. Building on the specific case of the European Union’s foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa, embodied by the 2000 Cotonou Agreement and the 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy, through four papers and one books review, the study firstly develops the Ethical Intervener Europe analytical framework to account for the embedded problematics in the EU’s ethical foreign policy. Secondly, through an eclectic theoretical approach, the study seeks to theoretically pin-point some alternatives to think about ethical foreign policy and finally, looks to concretize it through its application on the case of rela tive autonomous peace- and state-building in Somaliland. This research report briefly introduces the different findings and addresses the need for further research in view of a decolonial approach to the study of ethical foreign policy in a context of structural inequality.
Mission Impossible: the European Union and Policy Coherence for Development
Abstract The principle of policy coherence has been the object of a contentious debate in the European Union’s external relations, though discussions have been limited mainly to its foreign policy and its ability to speak with one voice in the international arena. Despite being institutionalized in the Treaty of Maastricht, policy coherence for development (PCD), which implies taking into account the needs and interest of developing countries in non‐aid policies, failed to make headway in the EU, remaining the unheeded concern of some NGOs and a small group of member states. A change in direction occurred in the early 2000s when the European Commission, taking advantage of a number of favourable conditions and using an astute strategy, managed to set an ambitious agenda for the EU. This article, nevertheless, shows that promoting PCD risks being a ‘mission impossible’ for whoever attempts it due to the interplay of various issues and interests, the different commitment to international development of the member states, and the EU’s institutional framework.
Sudan's Prolonged Second Civil War and The Militarization of Nuer and Dinka Ethnic Identities
Abstract: Ever since power struggles within the Sudan People's Liberation Army split the movement into two warring factions in August 1991, rural Nuer and Dinka communities of the South have been grappling with a deepening regional subculture of ethnicized violence. This article describes political factors that have prolonged this bitter conflict into the present and have contributed to the post-1991 polarization and militarization of Dinka and Nuer ethnic identities. Drawing on parallel field research conducted in Dinka and Nuer regions of South Sudan during 1998 and 1999, the authors show how ordinary civilians have been struggling to understand and cope with this new “war of the [southern] educated [elite].” Among the major themes addressed are: (1) the rapid unraveling of regional codes of warfare ethics since 1991; (2) the transformation of previous patterns of interethnic competition over scarce economic resources into politicized programs of ethnicized violence; (3) mounting public despair over the seeming unwillingness of John Garang and Riek Machar to compromise their personal ambitions for the greater unity of the South; and (4) recent peace initiatives made by Dinka and Nuer chiefs, which have succeeded in reducing interethnic violence, despite the continuing intransigence of some military leaders.