Towards a new and different "South Flank" in the Great Maghreb-Sahel

Abstract

The network created by undergoverned spaces, corruption, organized crime and terrorism is the threat that the EU and its member states faced in the Great Maghreb, which is recreating a new Southern Flank, different from that which existed during the Cold War. The increase in extremist activity in the Sahel-Sahara since 2005 has gone hand in hand with the growth of transnational organized crime networks through the area. Although there is much debate about their relationship, intensity and impact, it is an undeniable dynamics in the area. The EU does not really have a unified policy for the Maghreb-Sahel, and in terms of organized crime and terrorism, the Sahel cannot be separated from the Maghreb. There is a limited and partial understanding of the problem both in terms of threats and viable solutions, a problem which has expanded by the action of Boko Haram, overwhelming the vision, planning and strategy of the EU. Despite the Sahel Regional Action Plan 2015-2020, the measures taken are limited, very recent and probably insufficient from the point of view of the dynamics and synergies between terrorism-organized crime in a context of corruption. The EU continues to maintain a security-development approach essentially based on a concept of human security, although this approach is highly questionable to face such threats.