Mediterranean Policies from Above and Below

The “Union for the Mediterranean” (UfM) has brought the Mediterranean region back to the political agenda. This collective volume provides, for the first time, a comprehensive overview and comparative analysis of Mediterranean policies from above and below of governmental and non-governmental actors. It includes case studies on the Mediterranean policies of numerous southern and eastern Mediterranean states, various EU Member States, and the EU itself. They explain how and why these states, all participating in the “Euro-Mediterranean Partnership” (EMP), now “UfM”, are according a particular importance to the Mediterranean region within their foreign policies. The case studies on civil society groups or social movements, such as informal or formal human rights networks, women’s networks, migrant networks or entrepreneurs allow, in turn, gaining a broad overview of the multifaceted and dynamic civil society landscape in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Bringing together well-known scholars and experts from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, this publication explores the questions of why and how the forms, the intensity, and the efficiency of interactions and articulations between the above and the below are developing within Mediterranean policies.
This collective volume is published within the framework of the research activities of the EU Excellence Network RAMSES2, specialised on Mediterranean studies.