The Desertec Project - Evidence of 21st Century European Colonialism or an Example of African Agency?

Going beyond the Eurocentric perspective that is predominant in the discipline of International Relations (IR), this thesis demonstrates the valuable insights that can be gathered by starting an analysis of an internationally relevant topic such as energy security from the viewpoint of commonly marginalised actors. The term ‘marginalised’ refers to actors geographically located in the ‘Global South’ (in this case North Africa) and previously analytically marginalised actors within IR, such as non-state actors. Moreover, this paper provides an informed response to the allegedly neocolonial character of the controversial Desertec project, a transnational energy partnership between the European Union and Middle Eastern and North African states. To be able to do so, the paper adopts an African (Moroccan) agency perspective based on the analytical framework provided by William Brown and a number of selected determinants of agency such as political bargaining power, image management or...Show moreGoing beyond the Eurocentric perspective that is predominant in the discipline of International Relations (IR), this thesis demonstrates the valuable insights that can be gathered by starting an analysis of an internationally relevant topic such as energy security from the viewpoint of commonly marginalised actors. The term ‘marginalised’ refers to actors geographically located in the ‘Global South’ (in this case North Africa) and previously analytically marginalised actors within IR, such as non-state actors. Moreover, this paper provides an informed response to the allegedly neocolonial character of the controversial Desertec project, a transnational energy partnership between the European Union and Middle Eastern and North African states. To be able to do so, the paper adopts an African (Moroccan) agency perspective based on the analytical framework provided by William Brown and a number of selected determinants of agency such as political bargaining power, image management or popular resistance. The paper finds that in its original form, that is, as Desertec was envisioned by its founding father Gerhard Trieb, the Desertec project cannot be described as a European neocolonial project. Yet, in its attempted realisation, Desertec – both the original large-scale project and the following individual projects – certainly had hegemonic features. Its hegemonic character, however, did not exclude and was even partly based upon African actors’ agency. Thus, while European actors still seem to determine the type of international relations held with African countries, North African state and non-state actors demonstrated significant, yet highly uneven agency in the Desertec context, thereby disproving generally held prejudices about African states’ passivity and inferiority in the international system.Show less

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The Desertec Project - Evidence of 21st Century European Colonialism or an Example of African Agency?