The hostage crisis in Algeria lays bare the importance of European foreign policy to the UK.

Last week’s hostage crisis in Algeria, and the French military intervention in neighbouring Mali, have focused attention on growing unrest in the Sahel region of North Africa. Susi Dennison argues that although the threat posed by militant groups in Mali and Algeria was well known prior to the crisis, EU member states had been unable to implement strong joint-policies in the area. The incident has highlighted the need to strengthen the capabilities of the European External Action Service, alongside the wider importance of European foreign policy to the UK.