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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 03/03
Western-Mediterranean Security Relations: Issues and Challenges
Carlo Masala
July 2001
Abstract
Speaking about issues and challenges of Western-Mediterranean security relations means, first of all, reflecting about the achievements of the Western-Mediterranean policy in the past. A realistic look at Western-Mediterranean security relations in the past decade contributes to a realistic outlook for the future of this relationships.
Instead of giving an overview over the activities of NATO, WEU, EU and OSCE it seems to be much more appropriate to evaluate the pros and cons of western-Mediterranean policy in a general way. This paper argues that the results of Western-Mediterranean security cooperation are – due to several reasons – very poor. Ten years after the Italian-Spanish CSCM initiative not much has been achieved to establish closer cooperation between western institutions and southern Mediterranean rim states. It is often argued that the Middle East peace process is the main obstacle for a closer cooperation and that Western-Mediterranean security relations need to be decoupled from the peace process. Instead of following this traditional line of argumentation this paper argues that the obstacles are also due to a lack of a common perception and common interests of western countries in the Mediterranean.
In a second step this paper will focus on the future issues and challenges of Western-Mediterranean security relations. I claim that in the future, despite security issues like the proliferation of WMD, illegal migration, inter- and intrastate conflicts and terrorism, developments within the Atlantic Alliance and the EU will pose a problem for Western-Mediterranean security relations. To be more concrete. The development of a European Reaction Forces as well as the discussion about NMD or MD or AMD will have a profound effect on the relations between “the west” and the southern Mediterranean rim states. If western institutions want to avoid the deterioration of the existing frameworks they have to be adopted.
Thirdly, I will focus on future possibilities of improving the security relations between western institutions and countries from North-Africa and the Middle and Near East
