Security assistance, securitization, security systems, and insecurity in the Mediterranean mashriq and maghreb

ABSTRACT

The Middle East and North Africa, of which the southern and eastern Mediterranean sub-region constitutes the bulk of the population and territory, is the world’s most securitized region. It is also the leading recipient of security assistance but provides the least security of any global region. A related paradox is that this region, the states of which are the world’s least democratic, receives the bulk of its security assistance from democracies. This article draws upon the causes and consequences of these two paradoxes to investigate relationships between securitization, security systems, and insecurity in the Mediterranean and broader MENA region. These paradoxes are products of historical legacies and limited access orders that characterize the region’s political economies. They are key drivers of ‘Faustian Bargains’ between providers and recipients of security assistance and the costs of those relationships. The article concludes with a review of proposals to improve the balance of costs and benefits of SA, recommending a dual strategy of seeking to reform recipients’ civil–military relations while changing military roles and responsibilities of both partners in security assistance relationships.

KEYWORDS:

• Security assistance
• securitized
• MENA
• limited access orders
• building partner capacities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. For a discussion of the various definitions of security assistance, see Hicham Alaoui and Robert Springborg, ‘Conclusion: Quit Trying or Try to Cure?’ in Hicham Alaoui and Robert Springborg, eds., Security Assistance in the Middle East: Challenges and the Need for Change. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2023.