The EU, Middle East and North Africa [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

Developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) pose a growing challenge for the European Union. Many countries of the region face war, political turmoil and popular anger, due to the impact of poverty in generating instability, migration and in some cases terrorism.

The EU wants to contribute to stability in MENA through such instruments as the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Union for the Mediterranean, but there are calls for the EU to play an even more active role in the region.

This note offers links to recent commentaries and reports by major international think tanks on EU-MENA relations and the general problems found within the region and some specific countries. More reports on the region can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are Thinking’ published in August 2016.

EU-MENA

EU refugee policy in crisis,
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, October 2017

Effectiveness and potential of European Trade and Assistance Policies in the South Mediterranean Neighbourhood in the fields of agriculture, water and rural development
Istituto Affari Internazionali, September 2017

To end a war: Europe’s role in bringing peace to Syria
European Council on Foreign Relations, September 2017

The case for a Euro-Arab summit
Centre for European Policy Studies, September 2017

Towards EU-MENA shared prosperity
Bruegel, August 2017

EU diplomacy and the Iran nuclear deal: Staying power?
Centre for European Policy Studies, July 2017

The Arab representation of European democratic values and the influence of Euro-Arab relations
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, June 2017

Trump, Europe and the Middle East peace process: A path out of the quicksand
Centre for European Reform, June 2017

Towards a recalibration of EU-North Africa relations
Brookings Institution, May 2017

Did the European Union light a beacon of hope in North Africa? Assessing the effectiveness of EU democracy promotion in Tunisia
College of Europe, May 2017

The EU’s construction of the Mediterranean (2003-2017)
Istituto Affari Internazionali, April 2017

The EU’s framing of the Mediterranean (1990-2002): Building a Euro-Mediterranean partnership
Istituto Affari Internazionali, April 2017

The European Community framing of the Mediterranean (1970-1990)
Istituto Affari Internazionali, April 2017

EU Cultural Diplomacy in the MENA region: A qualitative mapping of initiatives promoting regional cooperation
Institute for European Studies, April 2017

Theorizing the role of experts in shaping Euro-Mediterranean politics, at a time of erosion of democratic legitimacy and emergence of contested issues
European Institute of the Mediterranean, April 2017

The ENP between ambitions and delusions: Analysing Europe’s misconceptions in supporting democratisation in Egypt
Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission, November 2016

Deconstructing the EU’s discourse on the Mediterranean
Istituto Affari Internazionali, October 2016

EU differentiation and the push for peace in Israel-Palestine
European Council on Foreign Relations, October 2016

New chapter in EU-Algeria energy relations
Jacques Delors Institute, Berlin, September 2016

The new EU Global Strategy and what it means for Morocco
OCP Policy Center, September 2016

Energy

The Middle East refining scene and oil product balances
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, September 2017

The political economy of energy subsidies in Egypt and Tunisia: The untold story
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, August 2017

How can renewable energy help contribute to the development of the MENA countries?
Istituto Affari Internazionali, July 2017

The political economy of Middle East and North Africa oil exporters in times of global decarbonisation
Bruegel, April 2017

Financing renewable electricity in the resource-rich countries of the Middle East and North Africa: A review
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, February 2017

Post-Vienna: Prospects for Iran’s oil production and exports
Atlantic Council, January 2017

Energy resources and regional cooperation in the East Mediterranean
Istituto Affari Internazionali, October 2016

Security and other issues

Anticipating the post-Daesh landscape
Egmont, October 2017

Post-ISIS governance in Jarablus: A Turkish-led strategy
Chatham House, September 2017

Middle East gets messier
Chatham House, September 2017

Moats, walls, and the future of Iraqi national identity
Istituto Affari Internazionali, October 2016

Palestine: de l’État introuvable à la nation en déroute. A quoi servent les dirigeants palestiniens?
Centre d’études et de recherches internationales, October 2016

Civil-military relations in the MENA: Between fragility and resilience
European Union Institute for Security Studies, October 2016

Middle East’s migrant population more than doubles since 2005
Pew Research Center, October 2016

Qatar engulfed: Tactical steps raise stakes in protracted crisis
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, September 2017

Global identities: Embedding the Middle East and North Africa region in the wider world
MENARA, September 2017

Iraq after the fall of ISIS: The struggle for the state
Chatham House, August 2017

Making victory count after defeating ISIS stabilization challenges in Mosul and beyond
Rand Europe, July 2017

The geographic trajectory of conflict and militancy in Tunisia
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, July 2017

Future challenges of climate change in the MENA region
MENARA, July 2017

On the emergence of an Arab democracy: Social divides and political compromises in Tunisia
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, July 2017

Challenges for transatlantic counter-terrorism cooperation in North Africa
German Marshall Fund of the United States, July 2017

The summer of our discontent: Sects and citizens in Lebanon and Iraq
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, June 2017

Cybercrime and the digital economy in the GCC countries
Chatham House, June 2017

Syria: To end a never-ending war
Institut Montaigne, June 2017

The future of jobs and skills in the Middle East and North Africa: Preparing the region for the fourth industrial revolution
World Economic Forum, May 2017

Marginalization, young people in the south and east Mediterranean, and policy
Istituto Affari Internazionali, May 2017

Lessons to be learned from other experiences of socio-economic transformation for youth in the SEM region
Istituto Affari Internazionali, May 2017

Building partnerships in challenging times: The defence arrangements of Tunisia
European Institute of the Mediterranean, May 2017

Elections et notabilité en Iran: Une analyse du scrutin législatif de 2016 dans 4 circonscriptions
Centre d’études et de recherches internationales, May 2017

The Syrian chessboard: Prospects for the future after six years of carnage
Center for International Relations, May 2017

Proposals on building a regional security system in West Asia and North Africa
Russian International Affairs Council, April 2017

From politics to policy: Building regional resilience in West-Asia and North Africa
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, April 2017

Future of Syria
European Institute of the Mediterranean, April 2017

The popular mobilization forces and Iraq’s future
Carnegie Europe, April 2017

Legislating authoritarianism: Egypt’s new era of repression
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2017

Egypt’s secular political parties: A struggle for identity and independence
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2017

Insecurity and governance challenges in southern Libya
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2017

Refugees and displacement in the Middle East
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2017

Local wars and the chance for decentralized peace in Syria
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2017

How regional security concerns uniquely constrain governance in North-Eastern Syria
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2017

Hizbollah’s Syria conundrum
International Crisis Group, March 2017

A house divided: Political relations and coalition-building between Iraq’s Shi’a
Clingendael, February 2017

Turning the tide: The politics of irregular migration in the Sahel and Libya
Clingendael, February 2017

The EU and Libya: Realism or irrelevance
Centre for European Reform, February 2017

Au-delà de pays d’origine: Schémas migratoires en Algérie, au Maroc et en Tunisie
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, February 2017

Yemen’s al-Qaeda: Expanding the base
International Crisis Group, February 2017

Christen in Syrien: Aktuelle Lage und Perspektiven
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, February 2017

Jordan and Syrian refugees
La Vie des Idées, Februar y 2017

Methods of preventing and combatting terrorism in the MENA region and in the West
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, January 2017

Against the rising tide: An overview of the growing criminalisation of the Mediterranean region
Rand Europe, January 2017

Troubled waters: A snapshot of security challenges in the Mediterranean region
Rand Europe, January 2017

Cross-cutting challenges and their implications for the Mediterranean region
Rand Europe, January 2017

Regional foreign policy dynamics and their implications for the Mediterranean Region
Rand Europe, January 2017

Varieties of youth civic and political engagement in the South East Mediterranean: A comparative analysis
Istituto Affari Internazionali, January 2017

Neighbouring host-countries’ policies for Syrian refugees: The cases of Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey
European Institute of the Mediterranean, January 2017

Implementing the Iran nuclear deal: A status report
International Crisis Group, January 2017

After ISIS: How to win the peace in Iraq and Libya
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2017

Peripheral vision: How Europe can help preserve Tunisia’s fragile democracy
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2017

Transformation in Tunisia: The first five years
Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission, January 2017

Leaving the storm behind: Ideas for a new Mediterranean
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, Bruegel, Chatham House, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, December 2017

Implementing the Iran nuclear deal: Balancing proliferation finance risk and economic opportunity
Royal United Services Institute, December 2016

Guests or trash: Iran’s precarious policies towards the Afghan refugees in the wake of sanctions and regional wars
Danish Institute of International Studies, December 2016

Great expectations: The Iranian economy after the nuclear deal
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, December 2016

Israel and Iraqi Kurds in a transforming Middle East
Istituto Affari Internazionali, Decmeber 2016

Material factors for the MENA region: Data sources, trends and drivers
Istituto Affari Internazionali, Decmeber 2016

Tunisia’s postcolonial identity crisis: A key to understanding the lure of extremism
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, December 2016

Can the EU help prevent further conflict in Iraq and Syria?
Centre for European Policy Studies, November 2016

Middle East Strategy task force: Final report of the co-chairs
Atlantic Council, November 2016

Sectarian dilemmas in Iranian foreign policy: When strategy and identity politics collide
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, November 2016

Re-conceptualizing orders in the MENA region: The analytical framework of the MENARA project
MENARA, November 2016

Syria’s path from civic uprising to civil war
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, November 2016

Read this briefing on ‘The EU, Middle East and North Africa‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.