Affiliation: European Council On European Relations
Organization/Publisher: European Council On Foreign Relations
Date/Place: December 2019, Berlin.
Type of Literature: Report
Word Count: 4305
Link:https://www.ecfr.eu/specials/mapping_eu_leverage_mena
Keywords: Europe, MENA, Interest, Influence, Regional-Crises.
Brief:
This report is a project by ECFR MENA Programme. The project aims to map Europe’s role across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), making the case that Europeans can do more to leverage their influence in pursuit of core interests. It claims that in all the major revolutionary events that took place across the Middle East, such as the Arab spring of 2011, Europe was unable to influence these major shifts. The failure of not being able to influence has often come at a high cost for Europeans. The member states of the European Union are essentially nowhere to be seen on the interlinked regional crises that have a powerful impact on the interests of the European Union. This project comprises three main components. First, it maps and quantifies European tools of influence across the MENA Region, covering political, military and economic visualizations. Second, it includes 12 essays on European regional influence, written by experts in the MENA Region. Third, it sets out the views of MENA officials and experts from all 28 EU member States on European assets and ambitions. The key findings in the Project to increase European influence in the region are: overcome EU disunity, decouple from US policy, make better use of European assets, pick the right priorities, and build European coalitions.
By: Saima Rashid, CIGA Research Assistant