Oslo : three decades later

Published online: 01 June 2023Contrary to the commonly held belief that the 1993 Oslo Accord was a peace treaty, this article shows that it was an imbalanced interim agreement that unsurprisingly failed. Three decades later, the Israeli-Palestinian reality is marked by a massive expansion of Israel's settlement project, a gradual erasure of the Green Line, a symbiosis between Israeli security forces and the settlers, and an authoritarian and divided Palestinian leadership, with the Palestinian Authority acting as Israel's sub-contractor. Israel's regime of control also separates between Palestinian groups, with each group given a different set of limited rights. While the Oslo process had the potential to transform a predominantly ethnic struggle into a conflict over land and borders, the ramifications of the one single regime that has replaced the Oslo order cannot be underestimated. After describing these developments, the article introduces the contributions to the special issue, which add new perspectives to the still ongoing debate on the genesis, interpretation, and implications of Oslo

Regionalism and alliances in the Middle East, 2011-2021 : from a “Flash in the Pan” of regional cooperation to liquid alliances

Published online: 5 January 2024This article addresses the shifting patterns of regionalism and alliance formation in the Middle East in the decade following the 2011 Arab uprisings. It seeks to explain why regional organizations, most notably the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, failed to advance any durable regional cooperation, in spite of an initial period of bold activism. Second, the article seeks to shed light on why government-driven, informal and instable regional alignments that also include non-Arab parties and nonstate actors came to prevail instead. Our approach draws on Stephan Walt’s concept of the balance of threats; we posit however that this concept needs to integrate a liberal-constructivist perspective to assess both the nature of threats and the significance of domestic factors. While we consider the Arab uprisings a potential turning point, our explanation of the patterns of cooperation and conflict in the Middle East after the uprisings points to regime (in)security and shifting threat perceptions as key factors. They explain the side-lining of established regional organizations and the priority given to alternative and volatile forms of regional cooperation, that is, the prevalence of “liquid alliances.

Periphery under pressure : Morocco, Tunisia and the European Union's Mobility Partnership on migration

Morocco and Tunisia resisted for some time pressure from the European Union to sign readmission agreements. These agreements co-opt states into the EU’s migration governance, and include a commitment to cooperation on the expulsion of unwanted migrants in Europe. Their recent acceptance of a largely unbalanced arrangement on the issue, the Mobility Partnership, came at a crucial time in the political history of these two countries. This paper shows that the EU exploited the extremely fragile and uncertain political context after the start of the uprisings, in order to push Morocco and Tunisia to sign up to the Mobility Partnership. What is more, the EU anchored the pursuit of what is a clear EU priority in a normative discourse, effectively linking cooperation on migration to EU support for democratisation in the ‘neighbourhood’, after the Arab upheavals. The article thus highlights a concrete case in which the EU engaged in realpolitik, using norms and values strategically. However, the normative framing of EU policies also contributed to the construction of an (allegedly) normative EU identity. Hence, the article challenges simplistic notions of 'normative power Europe'.Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) within the 7th Framework Programme, the BORDERLANDS project is hosted at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, and directed by Professor Raffaella A. Del Sarto

Normative Empire Europe : the European Union, its borderlands, and the 'Arab Spring'

Article first published online: 30 JUN 2015Focusing on the EU's relations with its periphery, this paper takes issue both with persistent ‘normative’ conceptions of the EU's international role in the European Studies literature and with the constructivist–rationalist divide in IR theory. The conceptualization of the EU – a vast, composite and ever-expanding entity with ‘fuzzy’ borders – as an empire of sorts bridges the theoretical divide and offers a powerful explanation of the EU's behaviour vis-à-vis its vicinity. Through the transfer of rules and practices beyond its borders, the EU is indeed engaged in ‘normative’ policies, which however primarily serve the security and economic interests of the EU and its Member States. Thus, the EU's (allegedly) norm-based behaviour is in itself a utility-maximizing strategy, which also serves the construction of a normative identity. The EU's response to the Arab uprisings serves to illustrate the argument, with the concept of ‘empire’ resolving the puzzle of seemingly inconsistent EU policies.Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) within the 7th Framework Programme, the BORDERLANDS project is hosted at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, and directed by Professor Raffaella A. Del Sarto

Plus ça change ...? Israel, the EU and the Union for the Mediterranean

The patterns characterizing relations between Israel and the European Union comprise, firstly, repeatedly tense political ties that contrast with constantly deepening economic relations. Secondly the practice of bilateral relations markedly differs from their rhetoric. Thirdly, disagreements usually revolve around Middle East peacemaking. Finally, unlike the EU, Israel prefers disconnecting bilateral ties from regional politics. These patterns explain Israel's position and strategy toward the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and permit an assessment of the relevance of the latter for EU-Israeli relations. The conclusion is that the UfM is unlikely to alter the basic patterns of bilateral ties

Israel and the EU : an enhanced political cooperation? an assessment of the bilateral ENP action plan

Developed within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the EU-Israel Action Plan of December 2004 is notably vague on the envisaged political cooperation. The ambiguities reflect the need to reconcile divergent positions of the EU and Israel on the desirable type of relations in general, and the EU's role in Middle East peace-making in particular. Moreover, the expectations raised by the initial 'wider Europe' initiative on the Israeli side, along with EU-internal divergences on the 'right' approach toward Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, impacted on negotiations regarding the Action Plan. However, given that both sides eventually acknowledged the trade-offs that enhanced relations require, the Action Plan may, with the necessary caution, be considered an achievement. However, while its implementation will face considerable hurdles, emergence of a meaningful political cooperation will finally depend on the political will and, more importantly, a change of attitude on both sides

Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East

Published online: 03 November 2023This chapter discusses relations between Europe—defined here as the European Union (EU) and its member states—and what I have termed ‘the Mediterranean Middle East’, that is, the states in North Africa and the Middle East bordering the Mediterranean Sea. To understand these relations, Europe’s colonial legacy in the Middle East must be considered. Of similar importance are the geographic proximity and the complex nature of the ties that link both areas to each other. Taken together, these factors shape a relationship that contrasts with the Middle East’s relations with the more distant United States, the main security actor in the region. This chapter traces the evolution of relations between Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East—the area ranging from Morocco in the West to Turkey in the East—from the emergence of the modern states system in the Middle East to the present. While considering the changes that have taken place in Europe and the Middle East as well as at the global level over the decades, the chapter assesses the interests that have driven European policies towards the region and their impact, together with the responses and strategies of the region’s governments vis-à-vis European policies. It also outlines Europe’s role in the quest to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and summarizes European responses to the aftermath of the Arab uprising that resulted in regional instability in the Middle East and a massive increase in the number of refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe

Europe and the rule of (international) law in the Israeli –Palestinian space

European attempts to promote international legal norms and the rule of law in the Israeli–Palestinian arena have been contradictory and largely ineffective. The chapter argues that the European practice of maintaining two separated policies towards Israel and the Palestinian territories/the peace process, respectively, is a main reason for this state of affairs. As Israel effectively exerts control over the Palestinian territories and their inhabitants, and given the fragmented but interconnected Israeli–Palestinian space, maintaining two distinct policies is ill conceived and counterproductive. While providing aid and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population, European policies have unintentionally contributed to a further fragmentation of the Palestinian space. They have been supporting an increasingly illiberal Palestinian regime, the PA, which keeps law and order in the limited territories it controls. Thus, ironically, and in spite of continuous political rows, European policies have been fully in line with the preference of Israel’s right-wing governments of the last 15 years. Although Europe—defined here as the EU and its member states—recently started to acknowledge the flaws of its policies, it is questionable whether any change will happen anytime soon