ABSTRACT
The European track record in the Middle East is a disappointing one. Overall, Europe is largely a bystander that deals with the symptoms of the various crises in the Middle East but without fundamentally impacting on any of its developments. This is because European policies when it comes to the Middle East are caught between several dichotomies. The first is between the multilateral approach of the European Union and the individual national interest-based perspective put forward by member states. This leads to frictions and inconsistencies in the way European policies in the region are applied, pursued, and implemented. The second is between European policies towards the Middle East and other external powers that have deep interests in the region. A consequence of trying to balance different interests has been an increased securitization of policies whereby efforts to promote medium- to long-term change and reform in the Middle East give way or are sacrificed by the priorities of establishing short-term order and stability. This creates a discrepancy between what Europe says and what Europe does in the Middle East. The third is the simple complexity with which the Middle East strategic environment confronts Europe thereby overwhelming Europe’s tool box of responsive policy measures. This paper looks at how the changing nature of the political challenges in the Middle East interact with the more reactive nature of the EU as an international actor and what this means for the assumptions commonly made about European foreign policy. It will further examine what is likely to be a more complex and individual set of relations emerging that will question some of the assumptions of the past in terms of current and future trajectories of Europe-Middle Eastern ties. A core question to the addressed is to what degree Europe can still play a role in the strategic environment of the Middle East region and what this implies for the involvement of other powers.
