The Internal–External Security Nexus: EU Operation Sophia Through the Lens of Securitization

Abstract

The construction of EU security actorness has been accompanied by a narrative on security nexuses associated with the “comprehensive approach”. This trend has been intensified in recent years as demonstrated by the discourse on the “refugee crisis”, Daesh activity, hybrid threats and border security. This paper focuses on the internal–external security nexus analysed through one of its materializations notably the interface between the CSDP and the AFSJ. Based on the EU Naval Force Operation Sophia, it is argued that the comprehensive approach underlying the logic of the nexus is the result of a co-constitutive adequacy: “more security” (appropriation of policies and instruments of a multifunctional actor for security purposes) and “more actorness” (securitization of issues in order to promote the actor and its policies). The main contribution of the paper is to think critically on why and how security narratives, military instruments and securitization dynamics serve convergent processes of gaining political and public space for legitimizing policies and actions.