The political and strategic
European diplomacy in the grammar, the "Mediterranean" brings together various geopolitical entities within wrought by the chancelleries of the European powers as the "Middle East" (Middle East) for the United Kingdom or the "Middle East" for France . In the contemporary history of French foreign policy, the "Arab world" was also a key concept. Similarly, in the Arab-Muslim tradition, the Mediterranean is covered by a variety of geopolitical, which separates first between East and West: North Africa, western part of the Arab world (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya), and the Mashreq, the eastern part that goes from Egypt to Iraq. Moreover, the Mediterranean is also split between South Shore and North Shore, the first belonging to the land of Islam and its people to the community of believers (umma) and the second is the land of Jihad.
A space of conflict and risk
Conflictuality the Mediterranean hangs over its future development. The Mediterranean is characterized by, first, conflicts "traditional" territorial in nature and, secondly, emerging threats of "low intensity". The permanence of various traditional territorial disputes is the primary factor of instability in the Mediterranean area jeopardizing the prospect of lasting political stability in the Middle East and thus the emergence of a zone of prosperity and peace euro -Mediterranean: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Western Sahara and Cyprus conflict.
New Mediterranean powers?
North and South of the Mediterranean, there is the emergence of new economic and political powers. The powerful new strategies lead more independent including developing relationships with new projects like the Asian powers (China and India). The post-colonial pattern that existed between the northern and the southern shore until some years ago seems is now obsolete.
A commercial hub and energy
The Mediterranean was expressed in increasing flows of globalization. The Mediterranean is today a crossroads in the literal sense in that it constitutes one of the main traffic areas of world trade with nearly 30% of goods transport running through it. This is primarily driven by the geographically central position in the space of global trade flows. The Mediterranean is "naturally" written into international trade flows. This privileged position goes back to the time of the Silk Road and then, closer to home, to the commissioning of the Suez Canal in 1869.
Learn moreAn area under multiple influences
The Mediterranean region is now a vital area for security and economic growth of global power. Thus, it occupies a central place in political and military strategies of its riparian countries and the European Union but also of U.S. and NATO but also of Russia and, discreetly but still growing, the China and India.
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