The discrepancy between growth driven development and socio-economic stagnation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains striking: despite the progress on many macroeconomic indices, growing social inequalities and limited access to basic social services persist or have even deteriorated. Rather than questioning the prevailing development paradigm based on economic growth as a […]
Since the Arab uprisings of 2011, European Union (EU) assistance has nominally targeted more resources to supporting democracy movements in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This reflects the failure of previous approaches, as the two documents reviewing the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of 2011 acknowledge, as well as a stronger focus on […]
The aim of this paper is to persuade the European Union (EU) to shift its policy from supporting the current framework of Palestinian economic development, which in effect subordinates the economy to a political process that has become stalled and dysfunctional. It calls for the decoupling of economic development from the peace process, irrespective of […]
Greater cooperation with third countries is one of the EU’s core responses to the refugee crisis. This cooperation is focused on the read mission of individuals irregularly staying in the EU, on border surveillance and control, and on the reception of refugees in third countries. The EU has attempted to coopt Turkey and African countries […]
In 2010-11 an unprecedented wave of protests and demands for regime change spread across the MENA region following the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouaziz in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, on December 17th, 2010. In the wake of this ‘Arab Spring,’ many called for a ‘paradigm shift’ in the EU’s approach, including the then Enlargement and European Neighbourhood […]
The countries of Europe and those to the South surrounding the Mediterranean, as well as those further East in the Levant and stretching to the Arab Gulf, share a long history of commerce, punctuated by alternating periods of crisis and rapid development. Crisis best describes the last decade. In recent years, their economies have shared […]
The terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, just as the earlier ones in Madrid and London, were a brutal reminder that central pillars of the EU, such as the ‘area of freedom, security and justice’, are being challenged. Terrorists know no borders. Although political commitments for joint European action have been made over decades, mindsets and willingness […]
As European policymakers grapple with the inflow of refugees from Syria and other countries, it is easy to forget that each refugee comes with his or her own history. Addressing the so-called “refugee crisis” there forerequires understanding the proximate causes that led the refugee to take a perilous journey to the shores of Europe. This […]
Despite the widespread media attention for foreign fighters in Europe, very little is known about the phenomenon itself, something also evidenced by the lack of a single foreign fighter definition across the EU. In a study commissioned by the Netherlands National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV), ICCT addresses this gap by analysing not only the […]
The struggle between the contradictory objectives of security and democratic governance has dominated EU discourse, policies and practices when it comes to the southern bank of the Mediterranean since 1995. Ultimately, there is a scholarly consensus on the substantial failure of what had been the normative drive for setting up the partnership: no shared area […]
Libya is at a dangerous turning point. The post-Muammar Gaddafi transition has divided the country between three rival governments and dozens of armed groups. Once one of Africa’s wealthiest nations, Libya is now bleeding cash, in desperate need of humanitarian aid, and threatened by Islamic State (ISIS). Worse, from a European perspective, its chaos threatens […]
Libya has always been among Italy’s priorities in foreign policy, if not the main item on the country’s agenda. The Vienna conference (16th May) was co-chaired by the United States and Italy. The Conference tried to give a new impulse to the solution of the Libyan crisis. On 12 April of this year, the Italian Minister […]
North Africa is a geographically strategic region for Italy. Currently, however, the region navigates troubled waters. The Libyan crisis, the rise of the so-called Islamic State (IS), migration flows and economic and energy relations in the Mediterranean basin are key priorities for Italian foreign and security policy. In regard to Libya, the country’s internal chaos […]
Despite the European Union’s efforts towards more integrated strategy in the energy sector, the relationship between Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMC) and the EU are still based on a nation-by-nation bilateral approach. Within this context, the EU has mostly focused on harmonizing the legislation and policies in the region to create the conditions for an efficient […]
After decades of unsatisfactory performances, economic growth took off in many sub-Saharan states at the beginning of the 21st century. More recently, however, the end of the commodity cycle – particularly with the oil price drop – and the rise of jihadist violence rocked the “Emerging Africa” boat. Is this the beginning of the end […]
13 years after the tragic events of 9/11, al-Qa‘ida can count on as many regional nodes as never before as well as on a still significant influence over the wider jihadi galaxy, thus showing the strenght of its message and of its modus operandi. However, the past few years were marked by the surge of a number of factions that, while sharing several features with the group founded by Osama bin Laden, developed new and often […]
After a turbulent year both on the domestic and regional levels and on the eve of crucial parliamentary elections, it seems that Turkey’s ‘success story’ has waned. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been the main actor of this success story. The ‘AKP era’ has witnessed profound transformations in Turkey’s politics, society and economy. Today Turkey […]
Social media, videos, online magazines, local radios, pamphlets and posters: ISIS has proven capable of adapting its communication strategy to strengthen its power locally, recruit new fighters or influence public opinion in Western and Arab nations. Not just images of war and summary executions but also constant propaganda to show that it controls its territory […]
