Constructing the Mediterranean in the Face of New Threats: Are the EU's Words Really New?

Abstract

Since the end of the ColdWar, the discourses and practices of the EU towards the Mediterranean have emerged as an important area of study with regard to attempting to explain and analyse how Europe and the Mediterranean are reconstructed. This mutual reconstruction of two selves in the so-called Mediterranean relationship appears as a new type of praxis, a broadened self, following the model of European success in forming a regional security community. However, since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Mediterranean idea has been constructed by exploiting the new threats facing the West and Europeans. In this paper it is assumed that the discourse and practice of the EU in constructing the Mediterranean self can be seen as an extension of long-standing European policies of constructing Europe as an area of security. In the light of this evaluation, this paper focuses on the threat perceptions of the EU, the related power asymmetries in the Mediterranean relationship and the enduring asymmetry in the perception of the European and Mediterranean self in the face of 'new' insecurities.