'Securitizing' Migration Crises: the European Union, North Africa and Transatlantic Regional Cooperation

In line with the overall theme of the book, this chapter analyzes how the migration ‘crisis’ is impacting interregional cooperation by looking at two specific case studies of transcontinental migration. The first study analyzes the consequences that the 9/11 terrorist attacks had on migration-related policies between the European Union (EU) and its main transatlantic ally, the United States (US). In this case the ‘emergency’ permeating the security discourse has contributed to deepening and accelerating the cooperation between the two partners, although with some limits. The second case study investigates the inflow of irregular migrants and asylum seekers fleeing from North Africa into Europe, following governmental repressions against the uprisings of the 2011 Arab Spring. In this second case, these events are endangering existing arrangements on migration, which were agreed upon by now ousted or contested regimes, and are also questioning the ability of the EU (and its Member States) to tackle the situation in a consistent way.