Arab Society in Revolt: The West's Mediterranean Challenge

9. Societal Change and Political Responses in Euro-Mediterranean Relations

The European Union has long developed important and comprehensive relations with North Africa in the framework of the various initiatives it has launched and undertaken in the Mediterranean. In the context of EU external relations, the policy toward the Mediterranean, that is the EuroMediterranean policy, has a prominent role.As part of the EU neighborhood, North Africa is not only an important commercial and economic partner but also a relevant strategic factor. At the same time, in the past fifteen years, the societies in North African countries, along with those in the Levant, have undergone deep changes. Because of immigration, these changes are affecting European societies as well. What is their impact on the important EU–North Africa political relationship just mentioned? How do old and new EU policy responses fit with these changes in North African societies? Previous chapters in this book have analyzed key aspects of North African societal change. This chapter takes into consideration EU political initiatives and responses toward North Africa and the Mediterranean in the EuroMediterranean framework, with a view to evaluating their interaction with social change stemming from North Africa. A brief outline of the European-EU responses and initiatives toward the Mediterranean and North Africa is useful at this point. In the 1990s, in their initial stage, EU policies were pursued with an optimistic perspective: the EU believed that international and developmental cooperation with southeastern Mediterranean governments would allow for changes in the regimes’ authoritarian nature and bring about reforms and democratization in the region. 184 9 Societal Change and Political Responses in Euro-Mediterranean Relations roberto aliboni Then the evolution and reinforcement of Islamism, the use of terrorism by Islamist groups, and the poor understanding of the differences among Islamist trends led Europe to believe that the obstacles to democratization lay less in the authoritarian nature of incumbent regimes than in Islamism.1 This convinced Europe, in a shift from optimism to pessimism, to lend growing support to the authoritarian regimes, although not without hesitations and reservations. The latter were dropped following 9/11, which turned support for democracy into sheer rhetoric and strengthened, in contrast, support for existing authoritarian regimes in a context of growing interstate security-oriented cooperation. At the beginning of 2011, the widespread crisis of authoritarian Arab regimes (the so-called Arab Spring)—which arose in the Mediterranean area and among partners of the EU’s Mediterranean policies—suddenly shed vivid light on the contradiction between the EU and its members states’democratic rhetoric left over from the previous optimism and the support actually provided to authoritarian, yet allied, North African regimes. This contradiction represents the failure of the EU Euro-Mediterranean policy. This failure has been accompanied by political and institutional weakening of the EU due to increasing renationalization trends, which together make Europe’s perceptions of change in relations with North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the whole Arab World rather uncertain and problematic, with strong implications for policymaking. In keeping with this outline,the first section explores the EU-Mediterranean policy’s optimistic stage, which focused on democracy support and its interaction with social,cultural,and human factors and societal change.The second section considers the emergence of pessimism in EU-Mediterranean policy due to the impact of Islamism and cultural factors, which shifted the emphasis from promoting democracy to promoting stability. The third section examines how this policy shifted toward unreserved pessimism and delves into the consequences of 9/11 for immigration issues as part of Euro-Mediterranean politics and relations. The concluding section considers the effects of past and current policies and perceptions on Europe’s ability to generate a useful response to the realities and opportunities of the Arab Spring. Democracy and Societal Change in Euro-Mediterranean Relations This section considers the EU’s policy objectives of democratization and political reform in its Mediterranean neighborhood, particularly in the field of social, cultural, and human relations. It describes the policies pursued by the EU in this respect and the roles of the actors involved and concludes with Euro-Mediterranean Relations 185 some comments on the interaction and mutual impacts between EU policy, civil societies, and societal change in North African societies. Objectives of EU Policies toward the Mediterranean The broad objective of EU foreign policy is the expansion of democracy, which is pursued by transposing abroad its member states’ experience and values of democratization, development, and integration. This overall approach underpins not...