European Aid and the Securitization of the Conflict in Mali

Master's Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: 80, University of Marburg (Center for Conflict Studies), language: English, abstract: Foreign aid and military interventions have been important determinants in Mali's domestic politics for decades. Focusing on the European Union (EU) as an external actor in Mali, this study investigates the relationship between the EU's political discourse and aid policy in this country. I looked at the amount of European humanitarian and military aid sent to Mali between 2010 and 2014. I also looked at the framings of Mali in the European Parliament's (EP) debates within the same time frame. In this way, this study investigates whether there is a connection between the framings of Mali in the EP debates and the types and amount of European aid sent to Mali. Frame analysis is used as a method to examine the speeches in the EP debates. The changes in aid and the analysis of the speeches show us a connection between the framings of Mali in the EP and the EU's aid policy in Mali.