Details

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has revived the public interest for European global security on its eastern flank. However, this bogged-down conflict is likely to have long-term geopolitical ramifications in Europe’s southern neighborhood. Russia’s strategic line in the current war on Ukraine does not stop at the Black Sea, but goes all the way southwards to the Mediterranean, especially concerning energy issues, food imports and regional alliances. The Mediterranean appears as an integral geostrategic part of the conflict’s jigsaw where global and regional powers and alliances could significantly be altered from direct and indirect dynamics of this conflict. On a global scale, the balance of power could evolve especially if Russia’s marginalization persists, if the European states most concerned with the future of this region do not seize this opportunity to re-engage and if China leaps into the breach to advance its pawns all over the place, thus improving its position vis-à-vis the United States. Meanwhile, regional powers in the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, and Israel will certainly watch with the utmost attention how the European Union and NATO will position themselves and manage the post-conflict situation when it arises. In this regard, this workshop intends to decipher and shed light on the Euro-Mediterranean security architecture according to several and complementary approaches: historical, military and geopolitical.