Peter Seeberg

The EU as a realist actor in normative clothes: EU democracy promotion in Lebanon and the European Neighbourhood Policy

The article takes recent research on the difficulties for the EU in successfully promoting democracy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as its point of departure, with a specific focus on the European Neighbourhood Policy EU-Lebanon Action Plan. It is shown that, in spite of the fact that Lebanon does not present the same authoritarian institutions and character as most of the other countries in the region, the EU seems to have difficulties dealing with the political realities of Lebanon. This has to do with its consociational system and the existence of political elites in Lebanon, who see avoiding another breakdown of the political system as the decisive political issue. In addition, the existence of a ‘dual power’ situation, where two sources of authority are competing for power and legitimacy, constructs a Lebanese reality which the EU chooses to address by neglecting its own normative, democracy promotion ambitions. The article concludes that the vagueness and inconsistency of EU policies in Lebanon cannot only be explained by tactical considerations, but also imply that the EU pursues a realist agenda: in other words it is a realist actor dressed in normative clothes.

The EU's democratization agenda in the Mediterranean: a critical inside-out approach

Democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a central pillar of the foreign policy of both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), despite the failure of ‘democracy by imposition’ in Iraq. A recent relative military success in fighting insurgents still leaves a problematic political reality where war-lordism and a weak central government make democracy a difficult goal to achieve. Despite the embedding of the Iraqi government’s control, the growing numbers of actors who seem prepared to take part in politics according to democratic norms /rules of the game may yet be outflanked by extremists. The fragmentation of Shi’a and Sunni communities into numerous sectarian political organizations and the reluctance of many Sunnis to participate in formal politics mean that some eschew violence while others perpetrate violence on a daily basis. In addition, external actors plough on with democracy promotion efforts even though there are still significant contradictions between the objectives of the policy and its instruments. To a large extent, post-2003 American policy in Iraq has focused attention of both scholars and policymakers on the methods through which the EU attempts to export democracy in the MENA region, such as positive political engagement with authoritarian regimes, the promotion of economic reforms, and the strengthening of civil society activism. Rather than concentrating on the relations between the incumbent authoritarian regimes and the opposition in the relevant countries, and on the degree to which these relations are affected by EU efforts at promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law (an outside-in approach), this collection of articles inverts the

The Arab Uprisings and the EU's Migration Policies—The Cases of Egypt, Libya, and Syria

The article analyzes the European Unions (EU) migration strategies toward the Arab states in the light of the Arab uprisings in a comparative context. Going through migratory processes related to Egypt, Libya, and Syria, the article discusses Middle Eastern migration and its diverse manifestations, critically assessing the relevance of the EUs migration policy ambitions vis-à-vis the different challenges in the Mediterranean region. In its theoretical approach, the article draws on the concept of non-traditional security, demonstrating that migration constitutes an anarchistic element in the relations between states, which goes beyond traditional foreign policy means. The article characterizes recent EU initiatives concerning migration and demonstrates that despite the fact that the EU has declared migration “one of the strategic priorities in the external relations of the Union,” it seems apparent that the EU has not been able to develop adequate new approaches regarding migration. Many of the suggested initiatives within the framework of the new EU foreign policy setup have not been established yet—they remain preliminary works in progress, projects in different stages or legislative procedures under negotiation between EU institutions. Summing up the cases of Egypt, Libya, and Syria, the article concludes that the migration phenomenon since the start of the Arab unrest in early 2011 constitutes a highly important issue in European–Middle Eastern relations, regarding which, the EU foreign and security measures seem to be relevant only to some degree.

Union for the Mediterranean—Pragmatic Multilateralism and the Depoliticization of EU-Middle Eastern Relations

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy together with 42 European and Middle Eastern state leaders in Paris on July 13, 2008. It was established as an attempt to revitalize the Barcelona Process, but at the same time the founding document stated that the UfM takes ‘into account the shortcomings and difficulties in . . . multilateral co-operation which the EU has pursued since 1995.’ The UfM creates a new political and institutional framework for the relationship between the EU and the Middle East. But rather than following the normative, regionalist approach of the Barcelona Declaration, the UfM attaches importance to selected projects, dealing with issues like depollution, infrastructure, civil protection and solar power. These are designed not to cause significant political problems. Thus, with the UfM a tendency to a depoliticization of European-Middle Eastern relations seems to be developing. In this sense—and compared to former practices—the UfM apparently represents discontinuation. Yet, at the same time it stands on the shoulders of the Barcelona Process and the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), and in this way can be seen as part of a continuing political and institutional development. The purpose of this article is to discuss whether it is meaningful to characterize the UfM as a depoliticization of relations in the Mediterranean. A classic line of thought concerning European integration in the second half of the twentieth century claims that in order to defuse the antagonism between France and Germany, it would be necessary to find uncontroversial ways of developing integration, so that future conflicts could be avoided. Jean Monnet and other architects of European integration, having failed to promote direct routes to federalism, found a second-best solution: to integrate the coal and steel sectors. Ernst Haas, in his influential work,

The EU and the Syrian Crisis: The Use of Sanctions and the Regime's Strategy for Survival

The Syrian crisis has from May 2011 and onwards been met by the EU with rounds of tightening sanctions attempting to put pressure on the Syrian regime and the elites surrounding it. Based on a typology for the sanctions and a periodization showing how the measures have proceeded, the article discusses the EU sanctions and to what degree they have influenced the situation in Syria. Furthermore, the article sheds light on regional and international dimensions of EU policies towards Syria and demonstrates how the policies are met with the Syrian regimes ability to adapt to conditions related to changing internal and external challenges. The article concludes that what in the first phases of the EU sanctions against Syria represented a deviation from the traditional pragmatic EU policies vis-à-vis the Middle East, seems during the latest phase to be followed by a more cautious approach, which also takes security concerns into consideration.

Migration, Security, and Citizenship in the Middle East

1. Introduction: Migration, Citizenship, and Security in a Changing Middle East Peter Seeberg and Zaid Eyadat PART I: MIGRATION, RIGHTS, AND CITIZENSHIP 2. Citizenship and Migration in Arab Gulf Monarchies J. N. Sater 3. Addressing the Sanctity of Human Rights: The Plight of Female Migrant Laborers in Jordan Zaid Eyadat 4. Perceiving Democracy in Migration: The case of Moroccans in Piemonte Rosita Di Peri 5. Diasporas as political actors: the case of the Amazigh diaspora Eva Pfostl PART II: GOVERNANCE, MIGRATION, AND SECURITY 6. Migrant Workers and Governance in Middle Income Countries: The Case of Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon J. N. Sater 7. Across the Desert, Across the Sea: Migrant Smuggling into and from Libya Derek Lutterbeck 8. Migration in Syria and Non-traditional Security Issues in the MENA Region. Transnational Integration, Security, and National Interests Peter Seeberg

Regime Adaptability and Political Reconfigurations following the Arab Spring: New Challenges for EU Foreign Policies toward the Mediterranean

The article discusses the post-Arab Spring scenario in the MENA region and the EU policies in relation to the changing realities. I contend that the authoritarian states have demonstrated abilities to adapt to the new challenges. Through political reconfigurations the Arab states are able to maintain what some scholars have called a ‘recombinant authoritarian’ rule. The article analyzes how, faced with changes following the revolts in 2011 in the Maghreb and the Mashreq, the EU attempted a revitalization of former normative approaches but has not been able to develop strategies to deal with the situation. The article concludes that an EU consensus in connection with the recent significant developments in the Arab Mediterranean states is only partly a reality and that to some degree this can be explained by the constant changes in the situation of several MENA states, all of which effectively seem to prevent the EU from adopting long-term strategies vis-à-vis the Middle East.

Old Dogs, New Tricks? The Role of Regional Organizations in the Mediterranean after the Arab Revolts

Taking its point of departure in how specific regional organizations function and interact in the Mediterranean, this article attempts to show to what degree this institutional setup has influenced the developments in the Arab Mediterranean states after the Arab revolts. The analysis of the organizational and institutional setup in the Mediterranean is theoretically founded in the new institutionalism tradition. Furthermore, a regionalism perspective is applied, touching on discussions related to European normative ambitions. It is demonstrated that the regional organizations only to a limited degree have contributed to democratization processes or to democratic consolidation in a post–Arab Spring context, and it is argued that it seems unlikely that these organizations in the future will develop into tools for democratization in the Mediterranean region.

Guest Editor's Introduction: An Arab World in Transition, Political Changes and Theoretical Discussions in a post-‘Arab Spring’ Scenario

This introductory articles point of departure is the transformation processes that have taken place in the Middle East since 2011. It presents perspectives in the academic discussions following the surprising events in a post-‘Arab Spring’ scenario. The Introduction emphasizes that it is the ambition of this collection of articles to discuss and make sense of the significant differences in the developments, where new geopolitical dynamics reshape the MENA-regions post-‘Arab Spring’ reality.

Bringing People Back in Politics: The Role of Civil Society, Political Parties, and Regional Organizations in a Changing Middle East

The Introduction briefly presents the ideas behind this collection of articles, namely to analyze popular mobilization and the role of civil society, political parties, and regional organizations in relation to the developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the last years, and to discuss theoretical approaches and paradigms of relevance for the analysis of these new regional dynamics. The MENA region experienced, in connection with and following the Arab uprisings, a hitherto unseen popular mobilization. Despite the recent highly problematic situation in several Middle Eastern states, the Introduction emphasizes the continued relevance of focusing on a repoliticized MENA reality. The Middle East is still on the move away from the established image of unshakeable authoritarianism attributed to the region, which made the upgrading authoritarianism paradigm seem forever relevant and without any realistic alternative for the decades to come—therefore, the relevance, offered in this collection of articles, of bringing people back in politics.