Mediterranean unions – visions and politics

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Conveners

Alexis Tadié

Dimitar Bechev, St Antony's College

Kalypso Nicolaïdis, St Antony's College

En collaboration avec: Ramses Network

 

Mediterranean unions – visions and politics

Date: Friday 06 Jun 2008 (All day) to Saturday 07 Jun 2008 (All day)

Place: European Studies Centre, St Anthony's college

Research programme: Nation and Globalization

Once the cradle of civilisation, nowadays the Mediterranean is both a bridge and a boundary between Europe and the societies of North Africa and the Middle East.  Over the years the member states and the institutions of the European Union (EU) have inaugurated, in partnership with the neighbours of the southern and the eastern shore, a series of political and socio-economic and cultural initiatives aimed at resolving conflicts, fostering integration, and encouraging dialogue amongst civil societies in the area. However, realities are rather sobering. Few would disagree that while schemes such as the 1995 Barcelona Partnership have embraced bold visions of a Euro-Mediterranean community, they have fallen short of their promise. It is the walls around Gaza or Ceuta rather than the talk of partnership in Brussels that convey a more realistic image of the present-day Mediterranean. Violent upheavals, socio-economic inequalities, politicised cultural, religious and ethnic identities, and the bitter legacies of the recent colonial past continue to draw dividing lines between the North and the South, between neighbours, and also within individual countries.  

In early 2007, during the French presidential campaign, Nicolas Sarkozy proposed the creation of a Mediterranean Union modelled on the EU. Though it is a subject of extensive discussions this idea is yet to crystallise into a full-fledged project.  All eyes are now on France’s Presidency of the EU Council coming in the second half of 2008. Yet questions remain concerning the difficult institutional choices, bargains and political constraints faced by the plan.

The conference will explore in depth the proposals for a Mediterranean Union from various vantage points, including historical legacies, current EU politics, political economy, and the study of social change in both the North and the South.  It will bring together practitioners and academics drawing on the RAMSES2, a Network of Excellence of Mediterranean Studies funded under the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme.

DRAFT PROGRAMME
Friday, 6 June
Venue: European Studies Centre, St Antony’s College
13:00– 14:00   Introduction
Kalypso Nicolaidis, Dimitar Bechev, Leila Vignal, 
Raffaella Del Sarto, Alexis Tadie, Michael Willis, Kerem Oktem
14:00 – 14:30   Coffee and tea
14:30 – 16:30   Panel I:  Mediterranean Unions in a Historical Perspective
Nicholas Purcell, Oxford
Jean-Frederic Schaub, Maison Française
Driss Maghraoui, Al-Akhawayn University, Ifrane
Moderator: Eugene Rogan, Oxford
16:30– 17:00   Coffee and tea
17:00 – 19:00   Roundtable on the Union for the Mediterranean
Gilles Mentré, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mohamed Selim, Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
Thierry Fabre, Aix-en-Provence
Richard Gillespie, University of Liverpool

Saturday, 7 June
Venue: European Studies Centre, St Antony’s College
9:30 – 11:00   Panel II: Mediterranean Initiatives: Clash or Synergy?
Laura Baeza, European Commission (tbc)
Richard Gillespie, University of Liverpool
Federica Bichi, LSE
11:00-11:30   Coffee and tea
11:30-13:00 Panel III:  Opportunities, Costs and Dilemmas: 
What Is to Be Done?
Alfred Tovias, Hebrew University
Hakim Darbouche, Liverpool/Centre for European Policy Studies
13:00-14:15   Break
14:15-15:30 Panel IV:  Power, Identity and Recognition: Overcoming Cleavages?
Isabel Schaefer, Free University of Berlin
Robert Howse, University of Michigan 
Jean-Pierre Filiu, Sciences Po
15:45-16:00   Concluding remarks

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Dr Dionigi Albera, Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme
Dr Othon Anastasakis, Oxford
Mr Abdelmajid Arif, Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme
Ms Laura Baeza, European Commission
Dr Karine Basset, Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme
Dr Dimitar Bechev, Oxford 
Dr Federica Bicchi, LSE
Dr Maryline Crivello, Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme
Dr Jocelyn Dakhlia, EHESS
Dr Hakim Darbouche, University of Liverpool 
Dr Raffaella Del Sarto, Oxford
Dr Henk Driessen, Nijmengen University
Dr Thierry Fabre, Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme
Dr Jean-Pierre Filiu, Sciences Po
Prof Richard Gillespie, University of Liverpool
Ms Jennifer Heurley, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Prof Robert Howse, University of Michigan 
Mr Gergo Hudecz, Oxford
Dr Mohamed Janjar, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud Foundation (Casablanca) 
Dr Driss Maghraoui, Al-Akhawayn University (Ifrane)
Ms Cetta Mainwright, Oxford
Dr James McDougall, School of Oriental and African Studies
Dr Gema Martin Muñoz, Casa Arabe (Madrid)
Mr Nick McDuff, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Mr Gilles Mentré, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
Prof Aswini Mohapatra, Jawaharlal Nehru University (Delhi)
Dr Kerem Oktem, Oxford
Dr Nicholas Purcell, Oxford
Dr  Eugene Rogan, Oxford 
Dr Isabel Schaefer, Free University of Berlin 
Dr Jean-Frederic Schaub, Maison Française d’Oxford
Mr Mohamed Selim, Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Dr Alexis Tadie, Maison Française
Prof Alfred Tovias, Hebrew University
Dr Mohamed Tozy, University Hasan II, Casablanca 
Dr Leila Vignal, Oxford
Dr Michael Willis, Oxford

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