Europe in the New Middle East: Opportunity or Exclusion

ABSTRACT

This book examines the EU’s response to the Arab spring, from late 2010 to the beginning of 2014. It investigates how far the EU changed its policies towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the aftermath of the Arab spring, and what impact European policies had in either helping or hindering democratization reforms during this period. It also explores what impact the Arab spring had on European security and economic interests. Analytically, the book unpacks the factors that best explain EU policy choices in the Middle East since 2010. It highlights how the responses to the Arab spring have changed the governance dynamics of the EU–Middle East relationship. The book assesses how far EU foreign policy has succeeded in meeting the challenge of the Arab spring.