Is It Possible to Create a Mediterranean Community? North African Perspectives

Abstract

Mediterranean is the birthplace of different ancient cultures and civilizations, however, the countries in the opposite shores of this sea share historically distinct political, cultural and socio-economic characteristics. Despite these differences, increasingly rising scholars as well as politicians emphasize the need to promote cooperation and socio-cultural dialogue in the region which is expected to eventually lead to the emergence of a Mediterranean community. Within the context of this article, the possibility of the establishment of such a formation will be analyzed by elaborating the major obstacles on the emergence of this community and on a fruitful mutual dialogue. The main question of the study, therefore, will be to what extent the internal as well as external dynamics have an influence on the development of this regional partnership process. The role of international organizations in coordinating regional co-operation and facilitating the appearance of the Mediterranean community along with the different views as the northern African perspectives on the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) process –through Barcelona Process which was evolved into the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)- is also a great concern of this article. It will be concluded that it is not possible to create a Mediterranean community in the very near future even though international institutions can play a significant role in yielding security, stability and a firm regional cooperation in the Mediterranean littoral.

Keywords

• Barcelona Process,Union for the Mediterranean,EuroMediterranean Partnership,Mediterranean Community,Regional Integration

References

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