The Future of the Mediterranean - Which Way for Europe and North Africa?

In this volume, we contribute to recent debates on the future shape of relations between North Africa and Europe. Having been subject to decades of authoritarianism, citizens across the Middle East and North Africa region are demanding their say in determining the political future of their countries. Governments in the region have responded in different ways to the public uprisings in recent months. Some demonstrated responsiveness to their peoples‘ demands, while others sought to appease their populations with lukewarm political reforms. Still others reacted with suppression, which has led to either peaceful revolutions (Egypt, Tunisia) or to violent conflict (Bahrain, Libya, Syria, Yemen).The political landscape in North Africa and the Middle East is more diverse than ever. For the European Union and its member states, this means that their policy of accepting authoritarian rule in exchange for seeming stability—an ethically dubious political practice—has proven unsustainable. Now more than ever, the EU must be resolute in its pursuit of relations with its southern neighbors that are built on a shared vision of partnership and codevelopment in which civil society as well as the private sector have their say. With this volume of Europe in Dialogue, we focus on the perceptions and needs of the people in North Africa specifically. We have invited eight experts and civil society representatives from across North Africa (each country is represented) and one Lebanese expert on democratic reforms to contribute their personal assessments of current developments and offer policy recommendations for the European side. Each author provides critical and candid accounts of current European policy-making as well as the factors determining national and regional developments in North Africa. On this basis they then offer straightforward recommendations. This volume of Europe in Dialogue is published simultaneously in English and in Arabic in order to stimulate the dialogue across the Mediterranean.