Security through Democratization in the Middle East: A Comparative Analysis of the European Union’s Policies

The aim of this paper is to highlight the limits and inconsistency of the EU’s approach to security and democracy in the Middle East. Starting from an overview of EU’s main positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the study focuses on the EU’s shift from a security to a human security approach. Although theoretically consistent in the case of the Palestinian Authority, this shift is actually quite problematic, both for the EU’s asymmetric approach to Israel and the PA, and for the importance the EU attaches to democratization in order to promote security. In the second part, the paper discusses security and democracy issues within the European Neighbourhood Policy. Finally, it highlights the EU’s asymmetric approach both to the security of Israel and the Palestinians and to the democratic conditionality the EU applies to both sides, above all in the case of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.