Theorising European Solidarity in Crisis: Implications for EU-Nigeria Relations During Global Disruptions

This doctoral study theorises the concept of European solidarity as a determinant of EU foreign policy behaviour during global crises, examining how intra-EU solidarity dynamics have shaped EU-Nigeria relations across three major disruption episodes: the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022), the Russia-Ukraine war (2022-2024), and the global food security crisis (2022-2024). The EU's behaviour as an external actor is often analysed in terms of interest and norms, yet the sociological dynamics of solidarity, particularly how internal EU solidarity failures or successes generate spillover effects on EU-Africa engagement, remains theoretically underdeveloped. Drawing on Durkheimian solidarity theory, Boltanski and Thévenot's sociology of justification, and EU political sociology, this study develops an original Solidarity Externalities Model (SEM) of EU foreign policy behaviour under crisis conditions. Empirical analysis draws on an original comparative case design examining EU-Nigeria relations across three crises, using process tracing methodology to map causal pathways from intra-EU solidarity dynamics to specific EU-Nigeria policy outcomes. Primary evidence includes EU institutional crisis response documents, EU-Nigeria bilateral crisis communications, and 50 elite interviews with EU crisis management officials, Nigerian diplomatic and health ministry officials, and academic crisis governance experts across the three thematic crisis domains. Original contributions include the SEM theoretical model, the comparative crisis case archive, and theoretically grounded findings on solidarity externalities in EU-Africa relations. Keywords: European solidarity, EU foreign policy, EU-Nigeria relations, crisis governance, Solidarity Externalities Model.