A N A LY S I S PEACE AND SECURITY INSECURITY IN THE SAHEL Rethinking Europe’s response Lucia Montanaro March 2022 Coups, conflict and instability have increased in the Sahel. By focusing on short-term military and migration ob­jectives, international efforts merely tackle the symptoms, not the underlying causes. The counterterrorism ­paradigm has led to Europe supporting combat effective­ness despite abuses and impunity by state forces which undermine security. The impacts of European ­security assistance require a rethinking and rebalancing of future programming. The EU’s 2021 Sahel strategy is an ­opportunity to re-focus on a people-centred strategy to ­address structural drivers of insecurity