Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 01/2015

The Future of Multilateral Security Dialogue in the Mediterranean: Lessons Learnt, Opportunities and Choices

Eduard Soler i Lecha

September 2014

Istituto Affari Internazionali

Abstract

The Mediterranean is currently facing a number of challenges, ranging from political instability and intra-state conflicts to economic and social disparities and uncontrolled pockets of criminality. Although the conceptualisation of the Mediterranean as a region is often disputed, this is a space where initiatives for dialogue, cooperation and integration have proliferated in the last two decades as an attempt to tackle some of those challenges either regionally or multilaterally in cooperation with external partners. This paper overviews the existing initiatives, analyses why some previous attempts have failed and examines the elements of the new context that could favour or hinder further attempts to revive regional dialogue and integration, by identifying potential goals and relevant actors to be involved.