1st Edition
The European Union's Democratization Agenda in the Mediterranean
Democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a central pillar of the foreign policy of the European Union (EU). Rather than concentrating on the relations between the incumbent authoritarian regimes and the opposition in the relevant countries, and on the degree to which these relations are affected by EU efforts at promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law (an outside-in approach), this collection of articles inverts the focus of such relationships and attempts to look at them ‘inside-out’. While some contributions also emphasise the ‘outside-in’ axis, given that this continues to be analytically rewarding, the overarching thrust of this book is to provide some empirical substance for the claim that EU policy making is not unidirectional and is influenced by the perceptions and actions of its ‘targets’. Thus, the focus is on domestic political changes on the ground in the MENA and how they link into what the EU is attempting to achieve in the region. Finally, the self-representation of the EU and its (lack of a) clear regional role is discussed.
This book was published as a special issue of Democratization.
1. Preface Michelle Pace, POLSIS, University of Birmingham
2. Introduction: The EU’s Democratization Agenda in the Mediterranean: a Critical Inside-Out Approach Michelle Pace, POLSIS, University of Birmingham; Francesco Cavatorta, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University; Peter Seeberg, Center for Contemporary Middle East Studies, University of Southern Denmark
3. Political Islam in the Mediterranean: The View from Democratization Studies. The View from Democratization Studies Frederic Volpi, Institute of Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus Studies, University of St. Andrews
4. Paradoxes and Contradictions in EU Democracy Promotion in the Mediterranean: the Limits of EU Normative Power Michelle Pace, POLSIS, University of Birmingham
5. Hamas in transition: the failure of sanctions Are Hovdenak, Conflict Resolution and Peace building, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo
6. The EU as a realist actor in normative clothes. EU democracy promotion in Lebanon and the European Neighbourhood Policy Peter Seeberg, Center for Contemporary Middle East Studies, University of Southern Denmark
7. Constraints on the Promotion of the Rule of Law in Egypt. Insights from the 2005 judges’ revolt Sarah Wolff, The London School of Economics and Political Science
8. Egypt’s Moment of Reform and its Reform Actors: The Variety-Capability Gap Thomas Demmelhuber, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
9. ‘Divided they stand, divided they fail’. Opposition politics in Morocco Francesco Cavatorta, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University
10. Islamist Moderation Without Democratisation: The Coming of Age of the Moroccan Party of Justice and Development? Eva Wegner & Miquel Pellicer, Visiting Scholars, Yale University
11. Promoting Democracy in Algeria: the EU Factor and the Preferences of the Political Elite Ayse Aslihan Çelenk, Lecturer, Dept of International Relations, Erciyes University, Turkey
12. A Clash of Norms: Normative Power and EU Democracy Promotion in Tunisia Brieg Tomos Powel, School of Law and Social Sciences, University of Plymouth
Biography
Michelle Pace is Senior Research Fellow and RCUK Fellow, POLSIS at the University of Birmingham. She is Principal Investigator on two large projects and has published widely on EU policies towards the wider Mediterranean.
Peter Seeberg is Associate Professor, Ph.D. Director of Studies at the Centre for Contemporary Middle East Studies, University of Southern Denmark. He has published on the EU and the Middle East, Arabic nationalism, migration issues and ethnic minorities in Europe and Denmark.