Mediterranean Dialogue Series - Regional Programme Political Dialogue and regional Integration in the Southern Mediterranean
This publication series brings together the results and recommendations for action from expert meetings in the northern and southern Mediterranean region in order to promote a deeper understanding of the region and advance the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue. The publications deal with current issues of regional security, the impact of migration movements on stability in the Mediterranean and opportunities for economic cooperation.
China’s Political Influence in the South Mediterranean Region
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 40
A few days after the 1st China- Arab League summit took place in Riyadh and President Xi Jinping met with the heads of state of the Gulf states as well as presidents from countries in the southern Mediterranean region. Jesse C. Marks sheds light on which political interests China is pursuing in the region and how it is trying to implement them, e.g. by strongly influencing political parties. Read more here...
The MENA region in 2022: Tempora Mutantur
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 39
In this edition of Med Dialogue Series, Youssef Cherif outlines the key trends that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is likely to face in the upcoming months. Read more...
Diasporas and the MENA Region: Prospects and Struggles for Influence
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 38
Dana M. Moss explores the different roles the diasporas play in shaping social movements in their home-countries. She delves into the challenges these diasporas could face and presents policy recommendations for their host-countries. . Read more...
Japan-MENA Relations: Understanding Japan's Strategic Priorities in the Region
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 37
Christopher Lamont sheds light on Japan's ties with the MENA region and its strategic priorities. He analyses Japan's engagements in the context of a more assertive China and growing uncertainty over the future US role in the region. Read more...
Vaccine Diplomacy in the Mediterranean: The Contest for Influence
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 36
Samer Al-Atrush takes a closer look at the current state of affairs regarding vaccination programs in the Mediterranean. He analyzes the geopolitical competition between global players to take the lead in supplying vaccines to the region and thereby advance their standing in the wider region. Read more here...
Unpacking the Arab part of Identity, Spring and World
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 35
Amro Ali explores the subliminal connotations of the term "Arab" and what collective identity implementations it has - what are the problems with the term? What are alternative options? A worthwhile read 10 years after the uprisings. Read more here...
Political Culture in the Arab World: Assumptions and Complexities
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 34
Against the backdrop of the 10th anniversary of the Arab uprisings, Lina Khatib writes about political culture in the Arab world and how it has evolved over the past decade. The author emphasizes a more complex picture that goes beyond a bipolar understanding of political culture and highlights the important achievements that have also taken place outside the traditional political sphere. Read more here...
The New Turkish Presence in North Africa: Ambitions and Challenges
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 33
The paper aims to identify the main goals of Turkey's new policy toward North Africa, analyses how states of the region perceive the new presence of Turkey in the region, and addresses the major challenges facing this Turkish strategy. Read more here...
US Presidential Elections 2020 - What are the Implications for the MENA Region?
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 32
Ambassador Hatem Atallah discusses the potential implications of the US Presidential Elections for the Middle East and North Africa region, with a particular focus on the Maghreb region. The author first presents the US policies towards the region with the previous Trump administration and then delves into the expected priorities of President-elect Joseph Biden for the wider Mediterranean region. Lesen Sie hier mehr...
Europe-Mediterranean-Africa Commercial Connectivity: Geopolitical Opportunities and Challenges
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 31
In this publication, Michaël Tanchum examines the three trans-Mediterranean corridors that are emerging between Europe and Africa through the Mediterranean region. The author also presents recommendations for the further path to creating successful and mutually beneficial commercial relations between Europe and Africa. Read more here...
Regional Integration for the Arab Maghreb Union: Looking Beyond the Horizon
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 30
Author Asmita Parshotam examines regional integration in North Africa using the example of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and explores what the AMU can learn from other regional economic communities on the African continent. Read more here...
What awaits the MENA Region between now and 2025?
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 29
Youssef Cherif outlines the eight most crucial trends and issues that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is likely to face in the coming years. Read more here...
The EU Mobility Partnerships with the South
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 28
For two decades, the European Union (EU) has sought to conclude readmission agreements with its southern neighbours. The year 2011, marked by unprecedented political upheavals in the region, has given a second impetus to the negotiations with a new offer from the EU to its partners. This new proposal is called "Partnerships for Mobility". In spite of the significant institutional and human resources involved, the negotiations do not seem to lead to the much-awaited results. Read more here...
China's 'Health Silk Road' Diplomacy in the MENA
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 27
Author Yahia H. Zoubir examines how China has engaged in the Region in the wake of the Covid19 health crisis and the short and long-term results that have been or may be achieved. In addition to a country-by-country overview of medical supplies to and from the Middle East and North Africa, the effects of these supplies are discussed and conclusions are drawn that place Chinese efforts in a global context. Although rapid and short-term action in the fight against a pandemic is undoubtedly crucial, the quality of deliveries should be given priority over media-effective proclamations. Read more here...
The Fight Against Covid-19 in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 26
The article examines whether the pandemic influences and shapes the rules and their application in the context of the Central Maghreb. The article compares and contrasts the three experiences and focuses on the policy implications of the pandemic, while examining the approach of the different governments of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to the pandemic, their responses, measures and institutional implications. Finally, as relations between citizens and states evolve in the context of the crisis, the article attempts to formulate a set of recommendations based on best practices for more resilient, cohesive and inclusive societies. Read more here...
Civil-Military Relations in the MENA Region: Past and Future
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 24
Although Arab military personnel have always played a significant role in the politics of the MENA region, their importance in internal affairs and their degree of interventionism varied from country to country and from period to period. In 2019, as in 2011, Arab military personnel will play a crucial role in shaping the outcome of popular movements. Civil-military relations in the MENA region are currently being renegotiated. After Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria in 2011, the voices of dissent and calls for change are now also being heard in Algeria, Sudan, Iraq and Lebanon. By providing a comparative overview of the various reactions of the military to the recent insurgencies, this paper aims to examine the medium and long-term prospects for change. Read more here...
Tinder Diplomacy? Questioning Alignments in Middle Eastern Geopolitics
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 23
In an environment of global geopolitical transition, long-standing patterns of partnership between states are eroding. At the same time, the manifold uncertainties about how the world of tomorrow will be governed, by whom and under what norms, in addition to more structural partnerships, also favour interest-based cooperation between geopolitical actors. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the last decade has seen both the erosion and consolidation of long-standing partnerships and the emergence of a range of interest-based cooperation. Moreover, multipolarity and the diffusion of power are leading to more, often contradictory coalitions, which add up to a complex web of overlapping orientations and antagonisms. Read more here...
Algeria's Crisis: Outlook and Regional Implications
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 22
Algeria, the largest country in Africa by land area, one of Europe’s top three gas suppliers and a pivotal security actor in the region, has been shaken by mass protests since February 22, 2019. In this paper, Dalia Ghanem analyses the impact of the Algerian crisis on its neighbors Tunisia, Morocco, the Sahel and Europe. Read more...
The Maghreb’s Got Talent, but it’s leaving the region
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 21
While the attention on migration flows in the Mediterranean focusses mainly on the irregular dimension, the economic losses caused by the departure of skilled workers from the countries of the Maghreb are an important issue that remains little discussed. In this article, the author addresses a phenomenon that highlights the need to further coordinate migration policies between the two shores of the Mediterranean. Read more...
MENA 2030: A Strategic Foresight Exercise
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 20
The prospects for regional cooperation on peace and security in the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region ar emore than bleak. to take stock and to identify future trends, threats, and weak signals of change that might have an influence on the security architecture of the region, the following offers future scenarios for the MENA region and discusses possible opportunities for multilateral security cooperation in the Mediterranean. Read more...
Trump in North Africa
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 19
The election of US President Donald Trump in 2017 meant a critical realignment in Washington’s global priorities. The Middle East and North Africa is no exception to this trend as new geopolitical realities emerged that prevalently breaks with traditional arrangements. The Trump administration’s policy towards North Africa in particular was characterized by a degree of apathy and an overall prioritization of US national interest. Read more...
Drifting Apart? Transatlantic Relations in the Middle East
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 18
The transatlantic relations are not going through a smooth period. There seem to be more divergences than convergences regarding a number of issues. One of the areas where deep disconnects plague current transatlantic cooperation is the Middle East policy. While there is a common transatlantic understanding of the main threats to peace and stability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, differences mark the approaches towards issues such as the nuclear deal with Iran or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Read more...
Transnational Organized Crime and Political Actors in the Maghreb and Sahel
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 17
The following paper is based on a workshop organized by the Regional Program South Mediterranean and the Regional Program Sahel of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung on December 3rd and 4th 2018 in Tunis. The paper aims at providing an overview on the dimensions of organized crime in the Maghreb-Sahel belt, the economic dependence of border populations on illicit economies, and the extensive connections between smugglers, states, jihadist groups and local communities. Read more...
A Comparative Study of Refugee Laws in Arab Countries
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 16
The asylum phenomenon has recently acquired a new dimension in the Arab region following the unrests happening in the aftermath of the so-called Arab Spring. Arab countries seem to not be fully prepared, especially on the legal level, to face this challenge. Read more...
Cybered Conflict in the Middle East
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 15
Cyber power has a vast geopolitical potential. Cyber technology is increasingly inseparable from all instruments of power, including diplomacy, information, economy and military. The decreasing significance of geographic proximity for the nature of interstate conflict in cyber space demands a major conceptual shift in defense. In the following discussion paper, Kristina Kausch and Lior Tabanksy summarize some of the challenges arising from cybered conflict in the Middle East and outline possible trends. Read more...
China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Mediterranean Region: The Energy Dimension
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 14
China’s geo-economic strategy in the framework of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims at creating an integrated economic network of supply and value chains - especially in the production, transport and energy sectors. The analysis by Dr. Frank Umbach gives an overview of the energy dimensions of China's Belt and Road initiative and explores the Chinese strategy in the Mediterranean region and the Persian Gulf as part of its larger energy investment and energy security strategy towards the MENA region. Read more...
A Guide for EU-NATO Security Cooperation on Foreign Terrorist Fighters in the Euro-Mediterranean Region
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 13
In this publication, Dr Kasapoglu provides a guide to a terrorism risk model and a framework for analysing intelligence in the fight against terrorism in light of the impending threat of a "mutated Islamic state" in the Mediterranean region, which the author calls "Black Banners Reloaded". Read more...
Russia in the Mediterranean: Strategies and Aspirations
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 12
The balance of power in the Mediterranean region has changed decisively in recent years in the context of increasing uncertainty about the US presence in the region, the role of regional actors and, increasingly, Russia's activities. This policy paper aims to contribute to the discussion on Russia's ambitions in the region and the associated changes in geopolitical balance. Read more...
Options for Cooperative Security Solutions in North Africa
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 11
In the new publication of the Mediterranean Dialogue Series, Dr. Anouar Boukhar analyses current security challenges in North Africa and discusses in this context the shifts from traditional security orders to new forms of cooperative security provision in the region. Read more...
EU Energy Supply and its Strategic Interests for Interregional Energy Cooperation with the Eastern Mediterranean
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 10
Offshore discoveries of hydrocarbons in the Levant in recent years are expected to considerably change regional dynamics and to influence global gas markets. The paper sheds light on how these developments influence the EU's energy security and import demand, the role Russia plays in this regard, and what implications these dynamics have on prospects for EU energy cooperation with the Eastern Mediterranean. Read more...
Energy Security and Regional Cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 9
In cooperation with the KAS Office Israel, the KAS Southern Mediterranean Regional Programme organised an expert workshop on energy security and regional cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean from 8-9 June. Read more...
The Levant: From Ancient Gateway to Modern Chaos - The Search for a Regional Order
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 8
The Levant as a region has always played an important role in international politics due to its geopolitical position, its energy resources and its proximity to Islamic, Christian and Jewish religious sites. Moreover, the region is characterized by the diverse military, political and economic interests of regional actors, which create numerous lines of conflict. Read more...
Naval Balance of Power in the Mediterranean and Political-Military Trends
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 7
The Mediterranean region has become one of the most important arenas for international security and security policy. The publication analyses the latest political and military trends in the Mediterranean region and highlights the roles of the main state and non-state actors. Read more...
EU Migration Partnership Revisited
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 6
Migration and mobility have for some time been a focus of numerous dialogue and cooperation formats between the European Union and the countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean. During the workshop, the experts identified previous successes of existing instruments and initiatives, but also focused on weak points and problematic developments. Read more..
Countering and Preventing Radicalization in the MENA Region and the EU
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 5
At an international workshop in Brussels, more than 40 experts from different countries of the EU and the MENA region discussed the growing diversity of ideologies, causes of radicalisation, preventive approaches and the different forms of violent extremism as a global phenomenon. Read more...
Power Beyond the State: Non-State Actors in the Broader Southern Mediterranean
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 4
The states of the Arab world today find themselves in a situation in which their weak institutional structures are increasingly questioned by non-state actors. Experts from the MENA region and from Europe discussed the phenomenon of non-state actors in the southern Mediterranean. Read more...
North Africa and the EU: Partnership for Reform and Growth
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 3
Representatives of business organisations, chambers of commerce and universities and entrepreneurs and scientists from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia discussed the existing challenges for economic growth and regional integration in North Africa. The aim of the conference was to find possible new approaches to overcome these challenges in cooperation with the EU. Read more...
Maghreb Transformation Processes and Cooperation between Europe and the Southern Mediterranean
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 2
The Regional Program organised an international seminar on "Maghreb transformation processes and cooperation between Europe and the Southern Mediterranean". The aim of the seminar was to analyse the democratisation and transformation processes in the Maghreb with a focus on Tunisia and the EU's cooperation with the Maghreb states and to discuss important reform measures with a view to the future in the crisis region. Read more...
The Mediterranean Basin: Migration Strategies and Policies
Mediterranean Dialogue Series 1
With this workshop, the Regional Program South Mediterranean launched a long-term dialogue project that deals with the challenges and consequences of the waves of refugees in the Mediterranean region and wants to facilitate a network for regular and comprehensive cooperation and exchange between the actors of the region and the EU states. Read more...
