Publication

This paper emphasizes the increasing importance of the Mediterranean and the Middle East for the European Union (EU). The paper reviews the achievements of the Barcelona Process and examines current EU policies towards such regions, including the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). The author contemplates whether democracy is possible in such regions and considers the prospects for EU-US cooperation in the broader Middle East. The author proposes that the EU should progressively encompass the Gulf countries (from Iran to Yemen) in its wider neighborhood policy, while engaging the mass media in channeling clearer and more consistent messages propagating its active role as well as its limitations in the region. The author concludes that the EU has no choice but to become more deeply and permanently involved in the reform process in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, as the inability to become involved in such a process could seriously affect the future regional stability and energy security of its members.