Borderlands: Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East – A Book Talk

By adopting a borderlands prism, the book proposes a profound rethink of the complex relationship between Europe and the states of the Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

It shows that within a system of asymmetric economic relations from which Europe and MENA elites benefit the most, single MENA governments have been co-opted into the management of border and migration control, thus acting as Europe's gatekeepers. Combined with specific policy choices of MENA governments, European policies have in fact contributed to rising socio-economic inequalities and the strengthening of authoritarian rule in Europe’s “southern neighbourhood,” with Europe tacitly tolerating serious human rights violations at its fringes.

Taking the book’s findings as a starting point, in this webinar, Daniela Huber, Raffaella A. Del Sarto and Tamirace Fakhoury will discuss the question of “what’s next” for Europe’s relations with the Mediterranean Middle East from both a research and policy perspective.

Programme

Welcome Remarks and Chair
Daniela Huber, Head of the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa Programme, IAI

Panel
Raffaella A. Del Sarto, Associate Professor of Middle East Studies, SAIS Europe, The Johns Hopkins University, Bologna (Italy)

Tamirace Fakhoury, Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Refugee and Migration Studies, Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University, Copenhagen