MEDRESET. The EU and Geopolitics in the Mediterranean

The present research conducted within MEDRESET Work Package 2 has aimed to answer a series of questions relating to the role of major global and regional powers in reshaping the geopolitics of the Mediterranean in the twenty first century. The work began in search of answers for the following: How the eight key states in this region – namely the United States, China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey – have been constructing, or at least have attempted to construct, different geopolitical imaginations of what has become known as the Mediterranean region? How do these constructions relate to the identity, role perception and selfrepresentations of these powers, and inform and guide their foreign policy narratives? We explored these questions with a specific focus on the policies these states promote in terms of actors, policy instruments and priority policy areas. Through this process, WP2 partners (Cairo University, Durham University, CIDOB, PODEM and ASI-REM) aimed at highlighting the conflicting, competing and converging policies and visions of these states with regard to EU policies and priorities. In so doing, this project has prepared the ground for developing a new regional perspective for the EU. The key findings of this research are these. First, security drives policy of all key powers. Second, their definitions of security are incompatible. Thirdly, these powers do not conceive the Mediterranean as a single space, let alone a shared space. Which, fourthly, leads to dramatic divergences in their approaches and priority areas