You are here

MENA

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a fragmented region: in spite of its relative cultural and historical homogeneity, it has some of the lowest levels of intra-regional trade, political cooperation and legal migration in the world. This is largely due to the fact that, since the end of the Second World War, it has experienced the full spectrum of political violence. Conventional, hybrid, and civil wars, revolutions, and terrorism have hindered political and economic development, and created fertile ground for further violence. Breaking this ‘conflict trap’ is imperative for the states of the region, as well as those actors who have a stake in it.

For the EU, the MENA is of strategic importance for three reasons: it is an immediate geographic neighbour, a crucial passage for goods traveling to and from Europe (including oil), and it is notoriously unstable. The region’s security and economic situation is consequently closely intertwined with that of Europe. This explains the Union’s desire to contribute to regional stability through different means such as the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the Barcelona Process and the Union for the Mediterranean. The EUISS seeks to contribute to the EU’s overall effort in the MENA by providing in-depth analyses on a number of key issues affecting the region.

Pages

  • Download document
    10March 2010
    By
    Engaging Hamas: rethinking the Quartet Principles

    The Middle East Quartet has laid out three conditions for the recognition of a Palestinian government: the renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel’s right to exist and a commitment to all agreements signed by the PLO and Israel.

    Recently, the EU appears to have shifted its language, demonstrating increasing flexibility in its application of the principles and emphasising the need for intra-Palestinian reconciliation. But is this a step in the right direction? 

  • Download document
    22February 2010
    By
    Education, research and gender: the sources of progress

    Education is a highly political issue on which the whole value system of any society pivots, and in relation to the Mediterranean, it is where the resolution of the current socioeconomic imbalance lies. In two essays, Robert Fouchet, Emmanuelle Moustier and Azza Karam analyse the social structures of education in the countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean.

  • Download document
    18February 2010
    By
    Human security: a new perspective for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation

    From EU’s perspective, the geostrategic importance of the Mediterranean region has increased significantly in the post-Cold War period. To meet new security challenges, the EU initiated the Barcelona Process. However, the authors argue that going forward, EU policies in the Mediterranean need to go beyond conventional understandings of security by focusing on ‘human security’ in helping to resolve ongoing regional political conflicts.

  • 09February 2010
    Iran Working Group Meeting

    Examining and analysing Iranian domestic developments and the way ahead for EU-Iran relations, this working group meeting took place at the EUISS in Paris on 9 February 2010.

  • Download document
    05February 2010
    By
    Yemen: the evolution of a problem

    President Saleh faces two internal security threats that pose a more serious challenge to his continued rule than al-Qaeda: the ongoing Houthi rebellion in the north of the country that began in 2004, and the growing movement to restore the independence of South Yemen.

  • 11December 2009
    Turkey and the ESDP: towards enhanced cooperation?

    The EUISS co-hosted the second Seminar on Turkey and the ESDP at Bosphorus University in Istanbul on 11 December 2009. The debate centred on the assumption that an open CSDP is not only a viable idea, but could also constitute a suitable framework for enhanced security cooperation with third countries in a multipolar world.

  • Download document
    19November 2009
    By
    Chute de mur(s)

    Sans doute la chute du mur de Berlin en 1989 ne semble avoir eu que peu d’effets directs sur le pays. Les gauches locales, comme toutes les gauches du monde, en ont le plus souffert en perdant de leur superbe. Le mur dans sa chute signifiait alors une certaine mort de la gauche. Mais au moins sa destruction introduisait, dans le contexte marocain, l’idée que les choses les plus solides, les plus durables, celles que l’on croit le moins susceptibles de s’écrouler, peuvent s’effondrer.

  • Download document
    09November 2009
    By
    Lighthouse Europe

    The fall of the Berlin Wall led to one of the most dramatic transformation processes in Europe and in the international system. With historical hindsight, it is clear that it was a landmark moment for the European integration process which resulted in the end of ‘divided Europe’, and created an environment conducive to the unification of Europe. As in other parts of Europe, this historical moment was warmly welcomed in Turkey by democratic forces which believed in an inclusionary European integration process that would consolidate democracy throughout the Continent.

  • Download document
    04November 2009
    By
    The Obama Moment

    'The Obama Moment' provides an authoritative analysis of the most topical global questions of our time: multilateralism, the economy, disarmament and climate change. Will the election of Obama facilitate enhanced transatlantic co-operation in dealing with these and other challenges?

  • Download document
    19October 2009
    By
    ESDP: The first 10 years (1999-2009)

    This book breaks new ground by providing the first comprehensive review of every ESDP operation to date. It explains how the EU institutions responsible for international crisis management have developed and functioned, reviews the civil and military resources available to the ESDP, and analyses the key partnerships between the EU and other international organisations.

Pages

Pages

  • Download document
    01September 2006
    By
    Turkey's foreign policy in turbulent times

    Today, Turkey is caught between two sets of challenges. The first set includes the typical conventional challenges that relate to national security, territorial integrity and political stability. The second set of challenges has to do with maintaining the pace of political reform.

  • Download document
    01August 2006
    By
    Mid-term elections in the US: in the shadow of Iraq

    The approaching mid-term elections (due to take place on 7 November) to both Houses of the Congress and a number of state governorships may deliver a considerable change in the US and have an impact on its foreign policy.

  • 01July 2006
    By
    Dialogue with Iran: the EU way out of the impasse

    From the mid-1990s onwards, the EU followed a unique policy approach in order to engage the Islamic Republic of Iran. Recognising the country's geostrategic position and its importance as an energy supplier, EU countries embraced a policy of dialogue.

  • Download document
    01July 2006
    By
    La PESC, entre l'Iran et la Constitution

    This edition of the EUISS newsletter 'ISSues' includes articles about the Iranian constitution, the EU's soft power in the Balkans, and EU dialogue with Iran.

  • 01June 2006
    By
    Islamistische Realität — Fundamentalisten feiern einen Wahlsieg nach dem andern. Auf welche Strategien soll der Westen nun setzen?

    Der Wahlsieg der fundamentalistischen Hamas in Palästina kommt nicht überraschend. Befremden muss eher das ungläubige Erstaunen, mit dem der Wahlausgang im Westen aufgenommen wurde. Schließlich war die jahrzehntelange Misswirtschaft der Fatah selbst Außenstehenden bekannt. Genauso wenig war es ein Geheimnis, dass Hamas aufgrund ihres sozialen Engagements großes Ansehen in der zunehmend verarmenden palästinensischen Bevölkerung genoss.

  • Download document
    15May 2006
    By
    Mobilising EU - US foreign policy co-operation: EU Diplomacy, the Middle East and Eastern Europe

    It is the general perception in Washington that EU-US relations are on the road to recovery after Iraq, though overall interest in the EU remains moderate in the United States. The EU needs to capitalise more systematically on the fact that its opinions on Iran are listened to in Washington. In this way, the EU can contribute to and influence the American debate.

  • Download document
    01May 2006
    By
    Iranian challenges

    It is no exaggeration to say that the Islamic Republic of Iran has posed a challenge to the West since the very day of its inception. However, since 2002, concerns about Iran's nuclear issue have further worsened relations, to such an extent that the US identified Iran as a main security challenge in its National Security Strategy of March 2006.

  • 18April 2006
    By
    The Iraqi quagmire

    Three years after the US-led intervention, Iraq has become neither more secure nor more democratic. Formal democratic procedures do not necessarily amount to democracy. National sovereignty, a non-negotiable prerequisite for democracy, exists on paper only and the country's nascent democracy needs a secure environment in order to be able to take root.

  • 15March 2006
    By
    Auf der Suche nach Vertrauen

    Die Beziehungen der EU zur Islamischen Republik Iran gestalteten sich seit jeher schwierig. Erst als das Regime in den 1990er Jahren seinen internationalen Pariah-Status überwinden wollte und sich in seiner Rhetorik sowie in seine Außenpolitik mäßigte, war an ein Ausloten gemeinsamer Interessen überhaupt zu denken. Alsbald wurde auf Ebene von Vizeministern ein Gesprächsformat eingerichtet das als kritischer Dialog bekannt geworden ist.

  • Download document
    01January 2006
    By
    America, Europe, and the Crescent of Crisis

    The broader Middle Eastern region has become the central focus of U.S.-European diplomatic relations. Talks between senior European policymakers and U.S. officials are now often dominated by issues that arise from the threats to peace and stability that emanate from this troubled region. The Middle East looms equally large in public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic.

Pages