Decentring European Union Foreign Policy: Addressing Colonial Dynamics in EU‐Algeria Relations

Abstract

The presence of eurocentrism in the European Union's (EU) foreign policy towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) reproduces colonial dynamics that undermine the pragmatic and ethical relevance of the EU as an international actor. This article questions eurocentric assumptions underpinning the EU's foreign policy towards the MENA, specifically analysing the case of Algeria. It proposes an innovative conceptual framework drawing on the decentring literature as well as post‐structuralist insights from Cebeci's work. When analysed in politico‐cultural, socio‐economic and security terms, EU‐Algeria relations reflect spatial, normative, polity and disciplinary Eurocentricity, which becomes manifest in the hierarchical, asymmetrical and securitised nature of this relationship. These findings contribute to the decentring turn in the literature by attempting to put the ‘foreign’ back into the study and practice of foreign policy, recognising colonial linearity and addressing its enduring avatars.