ABSTRACT
The European Union's (EU's) attempts to 'strategise' its actions in Africa are frequently contradictory, largely because the formulation of strategy has occurred retrospectively. This chapter argues that relations between the EU and African states occupy a unique position in Europe's ambitions to devise a credible 'strategy', when compared with the EU's strategy towards other parts of the world. It briefly examines selected aspects of actual strategic practices of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) in Africa. EU strategies towards its direct neighbours, for example, the Balkan or Mediterranean states, provide the basis for focused, feasible policy approaches. The chapter focuses on the specific regional policy towards the Horn of Africa, where the EU's longest-running, most substantial CSDP mission, the EU's anti-piracy maritime force European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR), operates. The Horn of Africa arguably represents the largest and most tangible aspect of 'security partnership' between Africans and Europeans.
