Security concepts in discourse and practice: the EU in Mali and Somalia

The use of security concepts has shaped and defined the EU's approach to peacebuilding in foreign conflicts over the course of the last decade; concepts such as 'local ownership', 'capacity building' and 'security-development nexus' are ubiquitous in its strategic documents. While the EU has ostensibly employed these concepts to make its peacebuilding efforts more successful, research has found that in practice these concepts do not necessarily facilitate effective peacebuilding on the ground and can even be counterproductive. In light of these findings, my research asks why the EU continues to employ security concepts in its missions and projects in foreign conflicts. My research finds that security concepts should be understood as ends in themselves for EU personnel - either to increase the EU's prestige by mirroring the approaches of more established peacebuilding actors (such as the UN), or to implement the EU's own governance model. Using discourse analysis, fieldwork and elite interviews, my research will examine how and why five key concepts in the EU Global Strategy were employed across two external conflicts where the EU is most active - Mali and Somalia. My findings will contribute to a greater understanding of the EU's peacebuilding practices as well as paving the way for a new approach to understanding why security concepts are employed by other actors such as the UN, NATO and nation states.