Transformation of the european union’s mediterranean policies: Opportunities and threats

Ayşe Gülce Uygun Transformation of the European Union’s Mediterranean Policies: Opportunities and Threats Introduction The Mediterranean, which is described in Latin as ‘mare medi terra’ (i.e., ‘the sea between the land’), is beyond the limitation of the Mediterranean as a marine space, considering its historical, geographical, political, cultural, identity, socio-economic, and geopolitical elements. Therefore, it is possible to define in many different ways. The Mediterranean, which geographically unites Europe, Africa, and Asia, is an area where several states (which are littoral neighbors or not) and international actors such as the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Arab League and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)) have an interest upon. The Mediterranean basin, which has been home to many civilizations in the historical process, has been an important trade route since Archaic Age. The basin has been instrumental in both commercial and cultural sharing and interaction for the peoples surrounding this sea. Described as an “encounter and confrontation area,” the Mediterranean has also been an area where civilizations and religions lived together and had their conflict at; this makes it difficult to talk about the existence of a singular Mediterranean identity and socio-cultural integration (Willa, 1999: 5). Its heterogeneous and complex structure and the economic, political, and cultural gaps between its north and its south reveal a holistic approach to the Mediterranean basin as a “utopia for the future rather than a historical reality” (Attali,…. © Peter Lang GmbH.