ABSTRACT
There is little doubt that the legacy of colonial rule on the southern bank of the Mediterranean as well as the influence of post-World War II international politics contributed to shape the history of the region and the relations between its constituent parts. Cold War politics inserted itself in an already unstable security environment and contributed to increase the divisions among Arab states, leading them to take divergent paths of economic, social and political development. In addition, strategic rivalries emerged with profound consequences on contemporary international politics. For a brief interlude after the end of the Cold War it seemed that a genuine Mediterranean dimension could be generated whereby the wealthier countries on the northern bank of the Mediterranean could become the locomotive for the creation of a shared area of democracy and prosperity. The reality played out differently and security concerns of global and European powers as well as the entrenched grip of Arab ruling elites on power prevented the realisation of this goal. The Arab Spring further destabilized the region with security becoming even more of an obsession and further distancing European powers in particular from the pursuit of normative objectives. The chapter analyses in detail how the major historical turning points affected political internal developments in both the countries of the northern and southern bank while at the same time these developments provided a feedback loop into such turning points. In short, the chapter discusses the interactions between the international and the domestic, investigating how major international forces affected regional dynamics.
