ES 523 - Public Lecture: Pere Vilanova University of Barcelona IBEI

March 26, 2014,  at 14:40 in FASS G050

March 27, 2014,  at 15:40 in FASS 2054

Public Lecture by Pere Vilanova  (University of Barcelona – IBEI)

Is There an EU-Mediterranean Common Agenda? The Mediterranean as a Geopolitical Unit

The Mediterranean space or area is widely considered a geopolitical region of the world system. As a unified physical or geographic basis, it should have the objective capacity of creating a common dynamics which would allow the analyst to understand conflict, cooperation, coexistence or any other phenomenon within this geopolitical regional complex. This is the widest general assumption both at the academic level and the conventional opinion level, but it may be questionable. Hence, this course will explore the implications of the classical hypothesis but also alternative explanations: this is the hypothesis that presents the Mediterranean as a fragmented space in which neither conflicts nor interactions have a common dominant dynamics. 

From a European prospective, this course sessions will explore several topics: a general theoretical framework for the Euro-Mediterranean arena; an overview of some of the existing security regional cooperation frameworks; the impact of an enduring conflict (Israel/Palestine); and, finally, a concluding general discussion on the Mediterranean regional process and its global relevance, as well as its interactions with the EU(within the World Political System).