Vital issues of security and stability in the Mediterranean continue to dominate the regional and international agendas: for instance, the war between Israel and Hamas and the tension in the Greater Middle East, the recent developments in Turkey and Iran, the ongoing violence in Syria, Iraq and Libya, as well as the migration and refugee crises; and the role of global powers such as the United States, Russia and China. The Mare Nostrum remains a key area for the future of the European Union (EU)’s relationship with the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.
The objective of this Workshop is to discuss and analyze the ongoing political conflicts in the Euro-Mediterranean region and of possible ways to bringing peace and stability to the region.
The workshop is organized by the Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER/IDOS) of Athens in collaboration with:
- ARAID/Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
- Center for Mediterranean Studies,Yasar Univerity, Turkey
- Institute for European Studies, University of Malta, Malta
- Neapolis University Pafos, Cyprus
- Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, Cyprus
- University of Catania, Italy
Event coordinators (academic)
- Prof. Charalampos Tsardanidis, Director, Institute of International Economic Relations
- Dr. Stelios Stavridis, ARAID Senior Research Fellow, University of Zaragoza
International Advisory Committee
- Fulvio Attina, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and International Relations, University of Catania
- Emre İşeri, Director of the Center for Mediterranean Studies, Professor Yasar University, Turkey
- Roderick Pace, Professor, University of Malta
- Stefania Panebianco, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Catania, and Holder of the Jean Monnet Chair EUMedEA
- Pantelis Sklias, Rector, Neapolis University Pafos, Cyprus
- Harry Tzimitras, Director, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Nicosia, Cyprus
PROGRAMME (draft 10.5.2024)
Thursday 30 May
10:30 – 11:00 Arrival & Registration (welcome coffee)
11:00 – 13:00 PANEL 1: Impact of Gaza & Ukrainian War on the Middle East & Mediterranean
Chair: Prof**. Vivi Kefala,** Head of Middle East Programme, Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER), Athens
- Prof. Charalampos Tsardanidis, Honorary Professor, University of the Peloponnese, Director, Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER), Greece: Misperceptions and war: Israel, the causes and consequences of the Gaza War.
- Mrs Laura Gil-Besada, Chair of Legislative Studies, University of Luxembourg & Dr. Stelios Stavridis, ARAID, University of Zaragoza, Spain**:** Unidas Podemos’ Reaction to the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
- Dr. Vasilios Th. Zoumbos, Post Doc Fellow, Department of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece: Bringing the New Era of NATO Security Reforms: The Case of Ukrainian War and its Impact on the Middle East and Mediterranean Region.
14:30 – 16:00 Lunch
16:00 – 18:00 PANEL 2: Greater Maghreb, Western Security and the decline of MENA concept, Geopolitics, Great Powers and Hybrid Threats
Chair: Prof. David Garcia Cantalapiedra, PhD, Co-Director, Complutense Group of International and Strategic Studies, Madrid
- Prof. Raquel Barras, PhD, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain: The Decline of MENA and the rise of the Greater Maghreb Regional Security Complex.
- Prof. Gustavo Díaz Matey, PhD, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain: Peace Operations: Between Deterrence and Peace Enforcement. Lessons for the Greater Maghreb.
- Prof. Natividad Fernández-Sola, PhD, Chair on International Law and Internationa Relations, University of Madrid, Spain: Russian Role in the Greater Maghreb
- Prof. David Garcia Cantalapiedra, PhD, University of Madrid, Spain: Hybridization”vs. Hybrid Threats: Western Debate and Impact in the Greater Maghreb
Friday 31 May
10:00 – 12:00 PANEL 3: Refugee, Displacement, Migration
Chair: Prof. Roderick Pace, Institute for European Studies, University of Malta, Valletta
- Prof. Belachew Gebrewold, MCI, Innsbruck, University of Applied Sciences, Austria**:** Postcolonial African Migration to the West: A Mimetic Desire for Being.
- Dr. Ayman Zohry, Independent Expert, Egypt: Re-examining Replacement Migration as a tool for Demographic Resilience.
- Mr. Markos Psimitis, Researcher, Lesvos Island, Greece: Security Unveiled: An In-Depth Analysis of the 2015 Refugee Crisis’s Impact on Human Security in the EU.
12:00 – 12:30 Coffee Break
12:00 – 14:30 PANEL 4: Politics and Migration
Chair: Mrs Effie Charalampaki, Head of the Research Programme on the Theory and Practice of International Relations, Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER), Athens
- Prof. Tina Mavrikos Adamou, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, American College of Thessaloniki: Reconciling state security and human security: Irregular migration in the Mediterranean.
- Asst. Prof. Esra Dilek, Kadir Has University**,** Istanbul Turkey, & Asst. Prof. Fulya Hisarlioglu, Kadir Has University, Istanbul Turkey: Ethnopopulist Politics of Contention: The Ascendancy of Anti-Immigrant Parties in Greece and Turkey.
- Ms Habiba Diaaeldin, Political Researcher, Al Habtoor Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt: Unraveling the Far-Right Surge in Europe and its Ripple Effects on Migration, Geopolitics, and Humanitarian Crises in the MENA Region.
- 14:30 – 15:30 Lunch
15:30 – 17:30 PANEL 5: WESTERN SAHARA
Chair: Dr. Meriem Nali, Université of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble
- Prof. Yahia Zoubir, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, Qatar: Morocco and the Abraham Accords: Reshuffling the Cards in Mediterranean Geopolitics.
- Dr. Jacob Mundy, Associate Professor and Director, Peace and Conflict Studies, Colgate University, USA: Infrastructures of Global Insecurity: Western Sahara Reconsidered.
- Dr. Sidi Omar, Jaume I University, Spain: Western Sahara: a critical analysis of UN management of a Protracted Conflict.
- Dr. Meriem Nali, Université of Grenoble Alpes, France: Soft Power through Litigation: The Aftermath of the CJEU Rulings on EU-Morocco Trade and Beyond.
- 17:30 – 18:00 Coffee Break
18:00 – 20:00 PANEL 6: PARLIAMENTARY DIPLOMACY
Chair: Prof. Charalampos Tsardanidis, Honorary Professor, University of the Peloponnese, Director, Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER), Athens
- Dr. Meriem Nali, University of Grenoble Alpes, France: Reimagining Parliamentary Diplomacy: The European Parliament's Role in Addressing the Western Sahara Conflict in the Mediterranean.
- Asst. Prof. Paula Lamoso González, Loyola University Andalusia, Spain & Dr. Stelios Stavridis, ARAID Senior Research Fellow, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain: The European Parliament and the 2023 Israel-Hamas War.
- Adj. Prof. Jordi Xuclà Costa, Department of Communications and International Relations, University Ramon LlUll, Spain: The New Foreign Policy of the European Union in the South Caucasus: Energy Security and Parliamentary Diplomacy.
- Prof. Roderick Pace, Institute for European Studies, University of Malta, Malta: The End of Tunisia’s Flirt with Democracy: EU Democracy Promotion, the European Parliament and Parliamentary Diplomacy.
- Adj. Prof. Marta Pascal, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain & Adj. Prof. Jordi Xuclà Costa, Department of Communications and International Relations, University Ramon LlUll, Spain: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean: Evaluation of its Work and Challenges (2014-2024)
Saturday, 1 June 2024
10:00 – 12:00 PANEL 7: COOPERATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
Chair: Prof. Panayotis Tsakonas**, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Athens, Athens
- Dr. Andreas Kotelis, University of Malta*,* Malta*: Epistemic Communities and Innovation Cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.*
- Prof. Emre Iseri, Director, Research Center for Mediterranean, Yasar University, Turkey: Navigating the Anthropocene: Geopolitics, Green Economic Transition, and Renewable Energy Cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
- Dr. Hoda Shaltout, Assistant Professor, Political Science Department, School of Economics and Politics, New Giza University, Egypt: The 2015 Mediterranean Crisis and European Human Rights Values: Security Comes Before R2P?
12:00 – 12:30 Coffee Break
12:30 – 14:30 PANEL 8: TURKEY AND IRAN
Chair: Prof. Emre Iseri, Director, Research Center for Mediterranean, Yasar University, Izmir
- Mrs. Reka Szolga, Phd Student, University of Public Service, Hungary: Geopolitics of Water in the Middle East – A Source of Potential Conflict or Cooperation?
- Mr. Alexis Lekakis Kerkyraios, Phd Candidate, Panteion University, Greece: The Gaza War's Impact on Iranian -Turkish relations: Still Frenemies?
