Euro Mediterranean Partnership - Essay Example

114293 EURO MEDITARRANEAN PARTNERSHIP "Enlargement is causing the European Union to reflect on both its identity and its relationship with the rest of the world, starting with the countries and regions in close proximity. The neighbourhood policy is the creative expression of the vision of making the Union one element in good neighbourly relations - as well as being specifically responsible for providing the neighbourhood with a stable core - and therefore ensuring that it maintains closer links with its immediate 'ring of friends'," (Dialogue between peoples and cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean area, p.7). The main reason that led the concerned leaders into this partnership is the construction of the region's much needed stability and nobody can deny it. It had been one of the most volatile regions of the world, where Islam and Christianity, diverse cultures, economical inequalities, religious fundamentalism, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, fanatism, drugs, international military conflicts, thriving secret intelligence and political maneuvers all compete with one another for sheer supremacy. Most of the finance and economy of this area is being used on the defense and war with next-door countries and cultures. It had been a sad state of affair for a long time, dominating the world affairs, and still with no proper solution on hand. This does not mean that West did not spoil the situation. It did, and did so, many times, for its own benefit at times, and because of faulty judgments at other times. The Partnership began with the Barcelona declaration in 1995, and the financial commitment backing it was unprecedented. It began with the best of intentions though the new countries suspected all the intentions throughout. Its impact on economic, cultural, social and political scene that was prevalent during its initiation was apparent immediately and the interdependence of the countries involved has grown over the years immensely. It has its own long term and short-term goals. Short-term goals are: 1. Documenting the process of social engineering of the Mediterranean region. 2. Interpreting the interactions launched by Barcelona Declaration and assessing both the opportunities and constraints facing the regional community-building process. 3. Offering policy prescriptions for regional stability. Long-term goal is the 'institutionalization of a long-standing seminar. (Based on http://ies.berkeley.edu/research/projects/stability.html The Northern member-States of the European Union today are effective partners of the partnership though they had numerous reservations in the beginning, including the declaration of the EU that it would remain 'essentially a northern-central European entity' and here the Mediterranean states are definitely a minority, making the North, till now the major player, though the whole North cannot be regarded as one entity. France, for some time, thought that EU was shifting eastwards!!+ "It is important at the outset to acknowledge that it is not easy to discuss the northern European states en bloc. They have differing levels of interest, and different interests, in the Mediterranean and by no means always do they agree on what should be done there. France, which in the present context must be considered both northern and southern European, has had the most extensive involvement in the area in recent history, but British involvement has been substantial, too," http://www.cidob.org/castellano/publicaciones/Afers/37gillespie.cfm EMP has many lofty goals and intentions, some of which are already being processed. One of the main intentions to reduce tensions between Islam and West, in a meaningful way, erasing all the misunderstandings, and there are many of them, and trying to structure a regional identity and culture 'transcending national identities and cultures'. This is a difficult, far reaching task that has to be consciously constructed. EMP feels that regional integration is absolutely necessary keeping in mind the explosive political, cultural and economical conflicts prevalent in the area. It is not easy to find out how welcome this regional identity is for the people and the countries involved, because a similar regional identity was treated with suspicion and contempt by some of the African nations and a forced common identity may not last long. Most of the fanatic and religious groups had not been very forthcoming. But finance is needed by every one. They also need help in upgrading their technological know-how and hence, it is difficult to say that they were totally negative. This area has its own concerns and drawbacks. It has an unfortunate history and unhappy politics. The repercussions of the colonial days are still rampant in the area. Blurred boundaries, cultural and religious conflicts, internal political rivalries etc. are responsible for the areas' present degeneration. What the countries immediately need is the national identity of their own. Middle east peace process and its outcome are very important to this region, as its uncertainty has been the main disturbing force for decades now. It has, over the decades, created a kind of center for the grievances. Cultural and normative factors attain great importance when the regional development and identities are undertaken and mostly people are obstinate enough to disregard the long-term advantage, in favor of a short-term goal. Terrorist organizations, fanatical religious institutions and groups hoping to attain international fame and thus, political recognition all tend to have very short term and immediate goals, instead of far sighted policies of human betterment. This does not show that the work of EMP is going to be extraordinarily easy. There is a necessity to undertake a few conflict prevention policies, resulting in general peace in the area. Israeli-Palestine impact should be lessoned in whichever way possible. The policy was described as "deep integration, non-discrimination, and Euro-Mediterranean free trade." There are many conferences with clear goals being conducted at regular intervals. But it had not been easy to iron out the differences. "Cultural issues may be a useful tool for co-operation, but they are a frequent source of misunderstanding, conference participants concurred", (Is the Barcelona process Working (1998, p.3). This also does not mean that there are no advantages at all. There are many political advantages and countries, which had not seen eye to eye for a long time, have to sit through the conferences, work together, spend time together, and plan the further processes and this has definitely increased the understanding between countries. That breaking of ice should go a long way. "In general, the political aspects of the Barcelona Process wre considered underdeveloped, with one major exception: several panellists lauded the fact that the Euro-Med Partnership is a form where Israel sits side-by-side with its neighbours," (Is the Barcelona Process working P. 4). There had been continuous demands for better political understanding between the countries, which, till now, had not made much headway. There were hindrances to this process. US decided to ignore Yasser Arafat, which was a very foolish move, and after his death, even though US and company heralded the successor Abbas as a great leader with terrific vision, it did not work, as he lost power in the US encouraged election to the firebrand Hamas and every step had resulted in unwanted delay and frustration. Many countries saw it as a tool to get more financial and economic aid and not as a strategical partnership for security of the region. They have an elevated understanding of their own capability, which shows in the continuous bickering that goes on in the entire area and think that they do not need western guidance on how to conduct their affairs with their neighbors. Most of the leaders in the region are unperturbed by the political upheavals that have resulted in declared and undeclared wars, skirmishes and conflicts, which do not particularly worry them. But time also has come for concrete action. The participants of the conventions feel that the depth and scope of other international efforts will determine the success of the Euro-Med partnership. There had been genuine attempts to enlarge the changing identity of the European Union not only in the political front, but also in economic front, understanding the mutual perceptions. Even the thorny issue of migration had been given a lot of thought and many issues have already been solved. There had been single-minded efforts to distinguish between the more-or-less shared value systems, and the belief systems. There are no doubt, many deficiencies. "With enlargement, the dialogue of cultures on the territory of the EU (and with its Mediterranean neighbours) will change in substance but not in form." (ibid. p.15). Intercultural dialogue has been used as a response to the structural problems of the south quite effectively, recognizing the political power, civil society and the religion trying for a secularization of values and attitudes, though not always successful, at least it was a first step towards a much needed goal. The principle of secularism hopefully might be accepted as a basis of positive tolerance and would not be considered as a degenerated deterioration of humankind. Demographic and social changes like infrastructure, schooling, healthcare, and trying to destroy the accumulated mutual mistrust and enmity, finding common solution for every problem, encouraging a civilized dialogue, and bringing the hazards of globalization to a minimum possible level had been a few of the goals, because there is no denying that globalization has concentrating on a lot of exposure in both good and bad ways. "globalisation, by exposing the economic, social and financial structures of all societies, reveals their advantages and disadvantages, while accentuating the instability of the existing systems and weakening those societies which were already the most fragile," (ibid, p.21). Dominant ideologies, geopolitical realities have become crucial and many types of violence like anti-Semitic and Islamophobic have to be brought under the right perspective through an intercultural dialogue based on mutual respect for cultural diversity and freedom of conscience. There had been progressive work to forge a set of common principles, with the shared equality and concern, with various cultural dimensions. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT: According to Saad Eddin Ibrahim, chairman of Ibn Kaldoun Centre at Cairo, "The Mediterranean is manic -depressive, and the EU would do a great service to all if it could normalize the region," (Is the Barcelona Process Working P.12). This shows how the intellectuals and thinkers of the area are looking forward to some miracle that could save the region from further frustrating degeneration. Democracy and Human Rights are hoping to gain a foothold in the region, especially the Human Rights. These countries have been more than ready to impinge on to the human rights of adversaries and opponents for a long time now. "The challenges cannot be met unless everyone takes responsibility - not least, in the first instance, by making changes in lifestyles which are so destructive for limited resources and fragile ecosystems. A real, effective dialogue and cooperation between equal players are the only things in an interdependent, globalised world which can provide the appropriate responses to everyone's concerns," (Dialogues between people and cultures in the Euro Mediterranean Area, p.24). Many recommendations could be suggested for further action by EMP: It is necessary to make education the vehicle to learn about diversity and spreading of knowledge. There are many preconditions to this goal. Teaching of the religion in the form of fanaticism would not work towards this goal. Very often it is seen that teaching of religion, instead of creating more respect for another's religion, ends up in fanatic groupism and aggressiveness, making the already bad situation worse. "A clear distinction needs to be drawn between religious education in the sense understood by adherents of a faith, which consists of transmitting the values, teachings and liturgy of their religion with a view to the proper practice of that religion(e.g. the Catholic catechism), and the teaching of comparative religion which aims only to instill knowledge about religion and the history of religion," (Ibid, pp. 39-40). Promotion of exchanges and mobility and the further expansion of expertise, skills and other reliable and beneficial practices have to be encouraged at all levels in all concerned institutions. Media has become all-powerful after the globalization. It could be made into a tool to understand mutual knowledge and spread equality. It is a very effective tool, if used carefully, conscientiously and responsibly. No program should be created without the concurrence of the other, so that the big-brotherly attitude would not be felt in the smaller countries, spoiling the already built understanding and co-operation. It should be clearly understood that a line should be drawn before encroaching into national sovereignty and pride. Intellectual freedom is another field, where much could be gained by using this field carefully and compassionately. "Intellectual independence is also crucial. Political opportunism and sectoral interests must not be allowed to deflect the Foundation from its mission. It must have complete freedom of thought and freedom to propose and discuss, to choose its methodology, field of activity and intellectual partner, otherwise it will not be listened to or heeded or even taken seriously," (Ibid, p.48). There is also a need to redefine the foundations of the humanities and social sciences and rewriting of faulty histories, if they are spreading hatred and violence. There is a need to redo everything that is obnoxious and a hindrance in further peace and stability. Financial help to affected areas is of paramount importance and the Partnership is already aware of it, and is trying hard to spread the needed finance as evenly as possible. Any action that creates tension should be avoided. At the same time, the tolerance level of cultures should be increased. If this does not happen, if people laboring under various kinds of phobias, still are targeting small, unimportant matters it can defeat even the best of the tolerance and understanding. So the attitude of "we are like this and going to remain the same, because for centuries we had been like this. Let the others come to our level" will not help in any way. One country that has made big strides to understand the situation is Turkey, even though not with much success; but it had been working for it for a long time. Aiming at a similar compromise will help the situation and create understanding. Every situation has to be met not from the conventional standpoint, but from some other point, that could be found halfway to the goal. Obstinate decisions would not go very far. Specific and useful programs popularizing science, knowledge and intellectuality should be initiated and spread through the mass media to create a conducive atmosphere is the need of the hour. A closed mind would not help in this area. But a receptive, free decision-making mind will be of enormous help. Dialogues are absolutely necessary and the politeness forged by the dialogue will go a long way in understanding the alien points of view. It would not be a waste to be polite to the enemies; on the other hand it would be an investment. The boundaries between the rich and poor should be decreased as much as possible, and the hatred and violence should be curbed and here again, useful dialogue could be of great help. "How are we to relearn the politeness of kings - supposedly the highest form of politeness - if there remain so many serfs and vassals (Dialogues between Peoples and Cultures.p. 50). BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Dialogue between Peoples and Cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean Area, (2004), European Communities. 2. Joyce, f.E. and Schneider, G. (1988), Environment and Economic Development in the Regions of the European Community, Avebury, Aldershot. 3. Is the Barcelona Process Working Conference proceedings, Athens, (1998). ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://www.cidob.org/castellano/publicaciones/Afers/37gillespie.cfm 2. http://ies.berkeley.edu/research/projects/stability.html 3. http://www.ecopsyonline.org/anno2005/numero_3/12_pubblicazioni_varie/newsletter.pdf 4. http://www.prisma-eu.net/deliverables/SG4environment.pdf 5. http://www.kopdat.hu/kutatas/RePEc/no64.pdf (all accessed on 3.3.2006). Read More