States, Actors and Geopolitical Drivers in the Mediterranean : Perspectives on the New Centrality in a Changing Region

Moving from a historical and cultural perspective, this book examines the geo-political and socio-economic changes involving the enlarged Mediterranean. Organised into two main sections, the first section (The new centrality of the Mediterranean Basin: Trends and Dynamics) is devoted to the analysis of the most relevant drivers and interdisciplinary broader issues, and the second section (Hotspots of Crisis and Regional Interferences in the Mediterranean) assesses the situation in some areas interested by the waves of uprisings since 2011-12. The book aims to uncover this new, critical centrality of the Mediterranean in the global scenario through the analysis of the interactions and intertwining of those trends and dynamics offering a historical holistic broad view. What follows is an Italian perspective that is the result of the research of a group of scholars who have been working for years on the first-hand sources of the countries examined. A peculiar vision connected not only to its unique geographical position at the center of the basin, but also to its deep relations with the southern shore throughout its long history. Francesca Maria Corrao is Professor in the Department of Political Science at LUISS University, Italy, and established Master in Politics and Management in Middle East and North Africa. Her work has been previously published in Mediterranan Studies, Arabic Literature & Culture and she is the author of Islam, Religion and Politics (2017), and Le Rivoluzioni Arabe. La transizione Mediterranea (2011). Riccardo Redaelli is the Director of the Master in Middle Eastern Studies (MIMES) at the Catholic University of the S. Heart, Italy, and Professor of Geopolitics and History of Asia. He has published more than 100 monographs, edited books, essays and articles on the history and contemporary politics of the Middle East Foreword Introduction Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures The New Centrality of the Mediterranean Basin: Trends and Dynamics Notes on a New Reading of the Mediterranean: A History of Trade, Culture and Wars 1 Introduction 2 Notes for Rereading the History of the Mediterranean: After the Discovery of the Americas 3 Reform and Culture in Contemporary Islam 4 Reformism Between Innovation and Tradition-Imitation Bibliography A Geo-Historical Compass for the ‘New Mediterranean’ 1 The Geo-Historical Compass 2 Mediterranean Sea: A Limes or a Liminal Space? 3 Adapting to the Change Bibliography An Overview of the Changed EU-MENA Economic Landscape: From Cooperation to Migration 1 Introduction 2 The Economies of the MENA Countries 2.1 The Main Criticalities 2.2 The Potential of the MENA Countries 3 EU Policies for Cooperation with the MENA Countries 3.1 The European Cooperation Models 3.2 The Critical Elements 4 Migratory Policies in the MENA Countries and the EU 4.1 The Migratory Flows 4.2 The Converging Interests of the EU and MENA Countries 5 Conclusions Bibliography Youth Bulge Dynamics in the Mediterranean Region: The Geopolitical Implications of Human Capital on Security and Stability 1 Introduction: The Youth Bulge Theory and the Geopolitical Vulnerability 2 The Youth Bulge in History: Some Empirical Evidence with Particular Reference to MENA Region 3 A Demographic Explanation of Youth Turmoil on the South-Eastern Shores of the Mediterranean 4 Conclusion: The Geo-Demographic Challenges of the Future Bibliography Arab Mediterranean Islam: Intellectual and Political Trends 1 Introduction 2 Ultra-Conservative (Salafi) Islam 3 Conservative (Orthodox) Islam 4 Progressive (Critical) Islam 5 Reflective Conclusion Bibliography Gender and Economics in Mediterranean: Looking for New Opportunities for North African Women 1 Introduction 2 North African Women and the Labor Market 3 The Role of Microcredit in Creating New Opportunities for North African Women 4 Conclusion Bibliography Is the Mediterranean Sea Still the Mare Nostrum? The Belt and Road Initiative and Chinese Investments in the Region 1 The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) 2 China and the Mediterranean Region 3 Chinese Investments in Mediterranean Countries 4 Dealing with China Bibliography Hotspots of Crisis and Regional Interferences in the Mediterranean Ferocious and Fragile: Egypt and the Myth of ‘Authoritarian Stability’ 1 Introduction 2 Historical Context 3 Theoretical Lessons: The Myth of Authoritarian Stability 3.1 A Failed Orthodoxy 3.2 Egypt’s Brittle Authoritarianism 4 Multidimensional Instability: Domestic Failures and Regional Impasses 5 Conclusion: Egypt–Fierce, Fragile, and a Sinkhole of Insecurity Bibliography Perspectives on the New Centrality of the Mediterranean States: The Role of Turkey in a Changing Region 1 Turkey, a Regional Power in the Mediterranean 2 Turkey and the Mediterranean in the Interwar Period 3 The Cold War Period 4 The Post-Cold War Period 5 Turkey and the Mediterranean under the AKP governments 6 From ‘Zero Problems with Neighbors’ to an ‘Enterprising and Humanitarian Foreign Policy’ 7 East Mediterranean, Sea of Rivalries 8 Conclusions Bibliography Periphery No More: The Jazira Between Local, Regional and International Dynamics 1 Jazira as a Gateway for Syraq 2 Al-ʿAhd’s Attempt to Link Syria and Iraq Through the Jazira: 1919–1920 3 Jazira as the Heartland of the ‘Islamic State’ Project 4 The Jaziran Shatterbelt/Buffer Zone 5 The Many Fault-Lines Traversing Jazira 6 Conclusion Bibliography Chaos in the Heart of The Mediterranean: The Libyan Crisis After the Fall of Al-Qadhafi’s Jamāhīriyya (2011–2021) 1 Introduction 2 ‘We Win or We Die’: The 2011 Revolt Against Al-Qadhafi and the Collapse of the United Libya Ideal 3 One Libya, Two Powers, One Thousand Militias: From the Second Civil War (2014–2015), Through the Skhirat Agreement (2015) Until the Defeat of the Islamic State (2017) 4 The Globalization of the Conflict: Libya in the Eastern Mediterranean’s Geopolitical Great Game Between Turkey’s Ambitions and the Risk of a New War 5 Conclusion Bibliography The Unfinished Transition. The Post-revolutionary Path of Tunisia and the Test of Covid19. A Historical and Socio-Economic Perspective 1 Introduction 2 An Historical Overview: The Building of Contemporary Tunisia 3 From Revolution to Present days (2010–2020) Between Successful Results and Betrayed Promises 4 The Effects of Covid19 in Tunisia: Magnifying Lenses on Fragility and Regional Inequalities 5 The Social Victims of Pandemic Between Economic Crisis and Gender Inequalities 6 Social Conflict and Protests 7 Conclusions. Beyond the Myth of the Tunisian Exception Bibliography The Israeli–Palestinian Impasse 1 The Oslo Accords: Twenty Years Later: A Brief Overview 2 Israeli Politics 3 Palestinian Politics 4 American Politics and the Peace Deal 5 Conclusion Bibliography Mashreq Monarchies’ Role in the Mediterranean Sea 1 The Jordanian Neighbor, a Country Built on Migration Movements 2 The Evolution of the Role of Qatar in the Mediterranean Crises 2.1 Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani’s Qatar. From Saudi Satellite to Independent Regional Mediator 2.2 The Arab Uprisings and Qatar’s Hyper Activism in the Mediterranean Crises (2011–2013) 2.3 Lowering the Profile. The Collapse of the Muslim Brotherhood and the GCC Crises 2.4 Conclusions Bibliography Index Introduction: A New Centrality of the Mediterranean basin -- Section 1: The new centrality of the Mediterranean Basin: trends and dynamics -- Chapter 1: The political situation along the Southern shore of the basin -- Chapter 2: Islamic movements in the Mediterranean Basin -- Chapter 3: Demographic dynamics and Euro-Mediterranean geopolitics -- Chapter 4: The Mediterranean as a new world hub and its role in the Belt and Road Initiative -- Chapter 5: Women activism -- Session II: Hotspots of crisis and regional interference in the Mediterranean -- Chapter 6: Proxy wars in the Levant: the case of Siraq -- Chapter 7: The Libyan storm and its regional side effects -- Chapter 8: Egypt and the myth of 'authoritarian stability' -- Chapter 9: The evolving scenario of Tunisia -- Chapter 10: The Israeli - Palestinian impasse -- Conclusion