ABSTRACT
Given the framework for analysis presented in the previous chapter, which
proposed that MENA states’ foreign policy needs to be analyzed as shaped by
three inter-linked and interacting environments – domestic, regional and
international – this contribution takes a closer look at each of these specific
environments for the states and policy makers of the Middle East and North
Africa. At the domestic level, the evolving questions of state and regime
consolidation and legitimacy are central, with the related issues of political
economy and political development. At the regional level, the salient features,
with respect to foreign policy, of the Arab and Middle East region as a whole are
considered, before looking at each of the region’s component sub-regions: the
Gulf, the Mashreq, and the Maghreb. Attention is also drawn to the impact of
states’ immediate environment. Europe, and European policy towards the
region, are a key part of the external environment, straddling the regional and
international categories. The significance of this European factor is assessed, and
an outline given of the evolution of European policy towards the region. Finally,
a number of preliminary conclusions are offered about the defining features of
MENA states’ foreign policies towards Europe.
