Security Provision

Disaggregating the concept of security, this chapter assesses the EU as a security provider in Central Asia. Its security discourses related to the region are analysed in terms of the sectors to which “security” is attached, the referent objects (units or systems deemed under threat), perceived threats, and policy prescriptions. These discourses have been largely mobilized by notions derived from overarching EU documents. The chapter also reveals how regional actors and other extra-regional security providers have shaped the EU’s security discourses and conduct. It is demonstrated that the Union exhibits a comprehensive approach to security with various dimensions and displays fluctuating sources of perceived threats. Brussels has largely utilized long-term strategies which function subtly via implicit force, partially by shaping the attitudes and expectations of target state elites through attraction, emulation, and socialization, rather than by conditionality or coercion. Over time, the regional demand for EU security provision has risen, and Brussels has defined its immediate security-related material interests more straightforwardly. When in conflict with its normative objectives, the EU ultimately prioritizes the former. In this context, “Eurocentrism” allegations against the EU are also discussed, concluding that these are often overstated, mistaken, and sometimes also normatively problematic.