Mediterranean Policies from Above and Below

Abstract

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has brought the Mediterranean region back to the political agenda. This volume provides, for the first time, a comprehensive overview and comparative analysis of Mediterranean policies of governmental and non-governmental actors, from above and below. It includes case studies on the Mediterranean policies of numerous southern and eastern Mediterranean States, various EU Member States, and the EU itself. The case studies explain how and why these States, all participating in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, now UfM, are according a particular importance to the Mediterranean region within their foreign policies. The case studies on civil society groups or social movements such as informal or formal human rights networks, women’s networks, migrant networks, or entrepreneurs provide a broad overview of the multifaceted and dynamic civil society landscape in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Bringing together well-known scholars and experts from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, the book explores the questions of why and how the forms, the intensity, and the efficiency of interactions and articulations between the above and the below are developing within Mediterranean policies.