ABSTRACT
The chapter presents the policy context within which the EU formulated and implemented intercultural dialogue (ICD) during the time frame of this book (1990–2014). It provides an overview of how the EU developed and revised the objectives, approaches and instruments of its Mediterranean policies in response to different types of challenges and opportunities, which emerged over time. Some of these concerned the evolution of the socio-political and security Mediterranean milieu, including regional conflicts, the rise of fundamentalism and terrorism, and the challenges of migration from partner countries. Other factors affected Mediterranean policies indirectly, namely the advancement of EU enlargement towards Eastern Europe. Other shifts were prompted by general factors affecting EU foreign policy overall, such as the novelties introduced through the various EU treaties. The EU developed ICD to soften the alarming causes and consequences of a growing political and social divide in the Mediterranean. Thus, although the implications of all the aforementioned challenges are discussed, the chapter is structured around three major events that had a direct bearing on the EU’s relations with Mediterranean countries: (1) the end of the Cold War, (2) the terror attacks of 9/11 2001, and (3) the outbreak of the Arab uprisings.
