The National Security Strategy 2013: The Perspective and Strategic Vision of Africa

The Spanish National Security Strategy adopted on 30 May 2013 emphasizes a "holistic approach" to national security. One of the key aspects of this integrated approach is the establishment of a close relationship between security and development. In this sense, security and development would be interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Based on this comprehensive approach and the focus provided by the Spanish National Security Strategy and by the European Security Strategy, this article tries to highlight the specific challenges with emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa. The analysis of the security-development nexus indicates the generation of an approach that proposes and enables the continuous search for purely security objectives, ignoring other aspects such as the economic development of the individual countries. Thus the focus has been on "promoting our security" to the detriment of the development of more equitable and balanced relations with third countries.