Abstract

The European Union (EU) and NATO have been active in the African continent increasingly in the 2000s. NATO has supported the African Union (AU) in its peacekeeping missions specifically in Somalia and Sudan through lending its military assets and training capacity, has conducted Operation Allied Provider, Operation Allied Protector, and Operation Ocean Shield in order to fight against piracy off the coasts of the Horn of Africa, and has responded to the uprisings and the resulting conflict in Libya through Operation Unified Protector. Meanwhile, apart from its political and economic foreign policy tools at its disposal in its relations with the African countries, the EU has been involved in dealing with the security challenges and the conflicts of the continent with recourse to its military and civilian capabilities via EU-led operations in Congo, Sudan, Somalia and off the coasts of Somalia, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, and Libya. For both institutions, Africa has been crucial not only because of their declared superior aims to bring peace and security but also due to the historical ties between the regional countries and member states of the EU and NATO, their economic and trade links with the African countries, and their desire to demonstrate their ‘leadership’ in global politics.