Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
David Gutman
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
First Century ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Displaced People ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
In Transit

The migrant is, according to philosopher Thomas Nail, ‘the political figure of our time.’1 Perhaps nowhere is this more the case in the early twenty-first century than in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. From Libya to Iraq, Yemen to Macedonia, the Middle East has become the epicentre of the greatest migrant and refugee crisis in generations. Countries throughout the region struggle to cope with swelling populations of displaced people, many of whom have been left to languish in squalid camps with little access to food, water, medical treatment or education. Exacerbating the situation are the efforts of many states, especially those located on the frontiers of the European Union, to close their borders, effectively stranding millions of migrants and refugees in transit. The militarisation of land and sea borders separating North Africa and the Middle East from the European Union has contributed to the emergence of a vast smuggling industry, particularly along the Mediterranean rim. Desperate migrants pay often exorbitant fees to smugglers who are eager to adopt ever-riskier strategies to assist their clients, while also avoiding capture. These dynamics have led one prominent scholar of migration to refer to the Mediterranean as ‘the world’s deadliest border.’...

Trans-Saharan Migration Through and From the Sahel

2021 ◽  
pp. 746-766
Author(s):  
Harouna Mounkaila
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
First Century ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Migration Policies ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Migratory Patterns ◽  
In Transit

This chapter describes the dynamics of trans-Saharan migration in relation to the migratory policies implemented in the Sahel in the second decade of the twenty-first century. It argues that the circulation of migrants between the Sahara’s northern and southern edges is not a new phenomenon even though it has intensified and diversified in recent decades. It pays particular attention to the migration policies implemented in Sahelian countries under pressure from the European Union and other partners, with the goal of containing the migration of nationals as well as persons from other countries who are passing through the Sahel. The chapter discusses how the focus on securitization of borders is leading to the criminalization of migration in transit countries. It then analyzes the repercussions of these policies on the conditions for migration, the longstanding migratory patterns in this zone, and the region’s unsteady socioeconomic equilibrium.

The Frontiers of the European Union. By Malcolm Anderson and Eberhard Bort. New York: Palgrave, 2000. 235p. $65.00.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 875-876
Author(s):  
Erik Jones
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
European Union ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
First Century ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Geographic Boundaries ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Group Identities ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Economic Nature

The “borderless world” is an early twenty-first century cliche, particularly in Europe. Overlapping processes of globalization and regional integration have done much over the past decades to alter the political and economic nature of geographic boundaries. As a result, the tendency is to anticipate a fundamental deterritorialization of politics and economics. However tempting, it would nevertheless be hazardous to rush to judgment. Through a series of overlapping case studies—essays, really—Malcolm Anderson and Eberhard Bort demonstrate that frontiers remain important both within the European Union (EU) and without. Politics and economics continue to be rooted in geography despite the transformations of the late twentieth century. This is true not only in practical terms but also in relation to individual and group identities. As the authors suggest, “there remains in Europe a highly developed sense of territoriality” (p. 11).

scholarly journals Conceptualizing Relations Between Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-35
Author(s):  
Raffaella A. Del Sarto
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Mediterranean

This chapter presents the conceptual framework of this study. It delves into the meaning and implications of adopting a borderlands approach to the study of the complex relationship between Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe’s ‘southern neighbourhood’. Anchored in the conceptualization of the European Union and its member states as an empire of sorts, this approach highlights the extension of European rules and practices to Europe’s southern periphery and the dislocation of Europe’s borders, showing how interconnected the two regions have become as a result. The usefulness of this conceptual framework is also discussed in the context of various flaws and gaps in the existing literature.

Ideas, Institutions and Organized Capitalism: The German Model of Political Economy Twenty Years after Unification

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Allen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
German Economy ◽  
First Century ◽  
Social Market Economy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
German Model ◽  
Severe Recession ◽  
Social Market

For much of the past two decades since unification, the literature on the German economy has largely focused on the erosion of the German model of organized capitalism and emphasized institutional decline and the corresponding rise of neoliberalism. The first part of the article analyzes the strains unification placed on German economic performance that caused many observers to call for modification of the model in a more neo-liberal direction. The second part takes a different focus and lays out the main rationale of the paper. It inquires why such a coordinated market economy was created in the first place and whether a renewed form of it might still be useful for Germany, the European Union, and other developed democracies in the early twenty-first century. The third section articulates the origins of the institutional and ideational components of these coordinated market economy models, during both the Bismarckian and Social Market Economy periods. The final portion inquires whether the failure of the contemporary liberal market economy approach in the wake of the worldwide financial crisis and severe recession represents a possible opening for the creation of a third coordinated market economy not only for Germany but for a redesigned European Union.

scholarly journals Evolution of European Union’s policy towards the Mediterranean region

2012 ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
Anna Diawol
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Specific Problem ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Union For The Mediterranean

This paper examines some specific problem in Euro Mediterranean relation. Author decided to concentrate on two main issues: the characteristics of the institutions of the Union for the Mediterranean, indicating similarities and differences in the Euro-Mediterranean programs and the presentation of specific new initiatives. The author will also summarize the main possible positions in the ongoing debates about the need to reform the European Union addressed to the countries of North Africa and the Middle East.

scholarly journals Exhibiting Refugee Routes: Contemporary Collecting as Memory Politics

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-316
Author(s):  
Randi Marselis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
First Century ◽  
National Museum ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Memory Politics ◽  
Migration Policies ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Twenty First Century

In recent years, numerous European museums have collected objects related to refugees. This article examines the Flight for Life (På Flugt) exhibition (2017), which the National Museum of Denmark organized based on a contemporary collecting project that took place in Greece and Denmark in 2016. Alison Landsberg’s concept of prosthetic memory is made use of here to examine how the exhibition invited visitors to identify with refugees. This empathetic approach had political potential by promoting solidarity with refugees. However, it did not open up a broader contextualization of the collected objects in terms of the migration policies of Denmark and the European Union. This article argues that museums, through contemporary collecting projects of the refugee reception crisis, engage in memory politics by framing how Europe will be able to make sense of the refugee reception crisis of the early twenty-first century.

scholarly journals POLITICAL AND SOCIAL VULNERABILITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE REFUGEE CRISIS 2011-2016: THE ARAB SPRING AND THE ROLE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toader FLUTUR
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Migration Route ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Right

The issue of uncontrolled migration has produced an institutional transformation of the European Union, dictated by the need to find solutions to new challenges. The reform of migration and asylum policy had to enter the European public agenda at an accelerated pace and political leaders had to find the common will to create the right legislative framework to respond to the migration crisis. The most important migration route preferred by refugees and economic migrants, is the Mediterranean Sea which in recent years has experienced the most intense human trafficking but also the most deaths in such a short time. As a result of the popular riots in North Africa and the Middle East in 2011, the deteriorating political and social situation in the countries of origin, more and more citizens have left their native places in the hope of ensuring a better life in the European Union. In order to support the structural reforms needed by the two areas and even physical reconstruction if we refer to the Syrian case, the European Union must show active involvement and a coherent plan to curb the fluid sources of migration. Supporting the reconstruction of foundations or strengthening institutions, investment in aid programs to stimulate economies and strong agreements with the governments of the states of the Middle East and North Africa are just some of the measures that the European Union should take swiftly.

scholarly journals The Influence of the Migration Crisis of 2015 on the EU Migration Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-23
Author(s):  
Marianna Gladysh ◽  
Viktor Viktor
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
The Eu

Nowadays the European Union migration policy towards is one of the most important aspects in ensuring internal security of the EU. At the end of the XXth – beginning of the XXI century, Europe faced a new phenomenon – the intensifi cation of migration processes, namely the influx of refugees and migrants-asylum seekers from third countries. Therefore, it led to the creation and development of common migration policy of the European Union. In this regard, it was important to create legislation that could regulate such issues as border security and combating illegal migration, as well as to create a common asylum system. The need to study the legal framework on which the EU policy on migrants and refugees is based, and to study the current state and trends in the migration policy of the member-states of the EU has determined the relevance of this study. The importance of this topic is intensified by the European migration crisis of 2015, which is even described as a humanitarian catastrophe caused by a massive influx of refugees from Africa and the Middle East. It showed the main problems in the sphere of migration policy and policy towards refugees: imperfection of the system of delimitation of the EU competencies; a large number of countries with confl icting interests in various spheres; fragmentation of programs in force at the national level. To address the migration crisis, the EU used a multifaceted strategy: improving and creating new migration management institutions, expanding crossregional dialogue with the countries of the Mediterranean region, Africa and the Middle East; continued to reformat the Mediterranean region (region-building). Potential approaches range from an internal search for strategies in which each member state seeks to defend its own interests (sometimes even against European integration processes) to a more farsighted approach in which member states work together to address a wide range of migration issues.

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