MENA, EU's Diplomatic Engagement

The launch of the EU Global Strategy in 2016 raised many expectations concerning the willingness and ability to reconcile European normative agenda with its interests. In setting out “principled pragmatism” as its modus operandi, Europe has attempted to bridge the existing gaps between values and principles, on the one hand, and interests on the other.

According to Silvia Colombo, Senior Fellow in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa programme at IAI, five years of implementation of the EU Global Strategy has unveiled significant shortcomings. This is mostly evident with regard to the engagement with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which has suffered from the most acute pragmatist turn in foreign and security policy.