The Securitization of Development Policy or the Developmentalization of Security Policy?: Legitimacy, Public Opinion, and the EU External Action Service (EAS)

Anderson, Stephanie and Williams, John. (2011) The Securitization of Development Policy or the Developmentalization of Security Policy?: Legitimacy, Public Opinion, and the EU External Action Service (EAS). [Conference Proceedings]

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Abstract

The EU has strained to find its identity as a security and defense power. The EU, historically, has more experience and credibility in the area of its development policy. Given the EU’s history of development promotion and recent efforts to expand and clarify its foreign policy objectives, it should not be surprising that development and security goals often resemble each other. This paper argues that the conflation of traditional security concerns with the overall development policy of the EU indicates an expansion of and an effort to legitimize the EU’s foreign and security policy. However, the lack of a clear distinction between security and development strategies acts as both a hindrance, in terms of operational clarity, and an asset, in terms of justification, to the formulation of a more coherent EU foreign policy, especially after the passage of the Lisbon Treaty.

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