The Maghreb and the Western Mediterranean Security - Literature review Example

The Maghreb and the Western Mediterranean Security Introduction Since the end of World War II and the formation of NATO, the Middle East has played acentral role in global politics and international diplomacy. In the diplomatic world, the amount of conflicts occurring in a region is often an indicator of geopolitical and military importance; the Middle East is one such place (Lamy, 2012:39). It is no coincidence that the region’s significance went up a notch since the formation of NATO in 1949. After the end of the Second World War and the creation of the Israeli state, NATO members viewed the Middle East as the new battleground between capitalist, Jewish, Muslim and communist factions. Plans were made to ensure that Israelis and Americans held sway in the region, but the USSR and Arabs thought otherwise (MacQueen, 2013:21). The Western Mediterranean region played an important role in both World Wars and the period following them, including several conflicts that occurred after the end of the Second World War. Since the turn of the millennium, the region has been surpassed in importance by the Middle East according to NATO members. Most of the countries in the region play a passive role in global geopolitical affairs, unlike the Middle East, which is almost never out of the news. In this paper, the writer will examine several issues facing the two regions, from a NATO perspective. Importance of Middle East and Western Mediterranean Countries in the Middle East and the Western Mediterranean have been important in global affairs for decades. Their geopolitical attributes make them vital assets in international security and the balance of power (Miller, 2008:45). The Middle East and the Mediterranean are close to Europe and Africa, two of the most important continents in global geopolitics, security and power. NATO has always classified the two regions as priorities in its quest to ensure peace and stability reigns in them. The two regions also have some of the most diverse amalgamation of cultures and religions in the world, making them a political and security hotbed. It is easy to see, from the events that have been witnessed there that they are too important to be left alone. The United States, Russia (USSR), Britain and France showed and continue elevating the Middle East and the Western Mediterranean’s importance by their actions and the actions of their proxies like NATO (Lamy, 2012:43). At this point, it is necessary to clarify that NATO is a Western initiative that was aimed at stemming communist aggression across the world. The regions stretch across large areas of land from Morocco to Egypt, to Syria, Israel and Iraq. Recent data shows that the regions’ population in 2011 was about 337 million, and it rose by 1.7 percent from previous estimates (Solomon, 2008:49). This high population growth rate is a huge challenge for the regions, and a major source of social and political strife. The regions are never out of the news, from religious tensions to political instability, they dominate global affairs. The two regions are also home to some of the world’s largest oil and natural gas reserves, which make them a vital asset in political, diplomatic and military affairs. Most countries in the regions have used their huge energy (especially oil) reserves as a bargaining chip to elevate themselves to greater importance (Lamy, 2012:47). Western countries need their oil and gas, and they know this, so they exchange these commodities for political and military mileages. Western countries, especially the United States, often back countries that offer them energy sources in exchange for military and economic aid (Lamy, 2012:47). The level and nature of involvement of the United States have drawn and redrawn multiple lines since 1945. Both the USSR (Russia) and the US’s involvement in the regions’ affairs has been counteractive and counterproductive. The pendulum has swung more times than can be counted. Since December 2010, the regions have been undergoing huge political and social changes that have made them even more significant. Western countries, using proxies like NATO, have played important roles in these changes by helping their “allies” and ignoring others. Again, lines have been drawn and redrawn (Solomon, 2008:24). Illegal Immigration Although both the Middle East and the Western Mediterranean have high incidences of illegal immigration, the Western Mediterranean’s situation is worse. In the Middle East, illegal immigrants frequently cross the Israeli-West Bank barrier, the Gaza-Egypt border and the Egypt-Gaza barrier (Wolff, 2012:36). These immigrants violate immigration laws of the three countries, increasing pressure on social amenities and generating social strife. In the Western Mediterranean, however, the situation is grim. Immigrants board makeshift boats to cross into Europe, dying in their thousands every year. The Western Mediterranean is a geographical region in which movement of people is very high. It has been referred to as a “place of movement” by some scholars (Wolff, 2012:38). In spite of the restrictive efforts and logistical measures the Mediterranean countries have put in place to control illegal immigration, many migrants slip through virtually all the checkpoints. NATO has been active in patrolling the waters in the region to control the situation, but it remains unabated so far. As a result, analysis founded on official statistics is unreliable. There is few accurate data for illegal immigration in the Western Mediterranean, which by definition is unrecorded (MacQueen, 2013:29). The appeal of the Western Mediterranean’s rich nations, which have – themselves – perpetuated the myth of their utopia, makes thousands of people want to move. With most of the movement being from the South to the North, the illegal immigrants are compelled to weather as best as they can the legal, natural and security barriers (Wolff, 2012:9). There are two types of illegal immigration in the Western Mediterranean: secret and irregular. The ethical and security inconsistencies created by this duality spark heated debates on controlling illegal immigrants, national preference, insecurity and national identity. These issues are exploited by right-wing factions and play a vital role in European and Middle Eastern public opinion, especially during elections or when an unfortunate event happens (MacQueen, 2013:29). Having recognised they cannot combat illegal immigration themselves, Europeans are employing their diplomatic powers to engage both the transit and emigration countries in the limitation policies (Solomon, 2008:16). The price of this combined effort is well-planned political blackmail. For example, developing countries like Libya demand armaments and materiel to finance development projects strengthen border security and ease regulations on specific classes of immigrants (trainees, businesspeople, students….). In spite of these efforts, the media images of boats and trawlers being cut off and dinghies ferrying illegal immigrants, tragic cases of drowning and the apprehension of trafficking rings still feature prominently in the news (Solomon, 2008:22). Protection of Western Mediterranean Sea against Piracy Piracy in the Western Mediterranean has and continues to undermine global humanitarian efforts in Africa. It also has and continues to undermine the security of one of the busiest and most vital shipping routes in the world – access in and out of the Suez (Miller, 2008:30). Apart from individual countries’ efforts, NATO has helped in disrupting and deterring piracy. At the same time, NATO has protected vessels and helped to boost security levels in the region since 2008. The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon requested NATO to start escorting World Food Program (WFP) vessels crossing these risky waters under Operation Allied Provider (Miller, 2008:32). The operation that was a success on a human and material scale, paved way to Operation Allied Protector in 2009, which in turn evolved into Operation Ocean Shield in the same year. All these operations were sponsored and conducted by NATO countries in conjunction with other individual participants. It is worth stating that the general pirate attack success rate has reduced significantly since the operations begun. NATO has created more synergies with other efforts in order to stem new piracy tactics (Miller, 2008:32). In March 2012, a strategic assessment conference highlighted the urgency to destroy the pirates’ support and logistics base by, among other measures, supporting the use of force to destroy pirate vessels, stopping pirate vessels and attaching tracking devices to mother vessels (Miller, 2008:36). NATO is carrying out counter-piracy measures in accordance with the appropriate UN Security Council Resolutions and with counter-piracy actions initiated by other actors like the European Union. Mediterranean Security by NATO and Middle East Countries NATO, in collaboration with other Middle Eastern countries, developed and continues developing close security ties so that they can stabilise the region (Wolff, 2012:12). NATO is engaging Middle Eastern countries in the promotion of dialogue and fostering of stability in the Mediterranean. Major agreements like the Partnership for Peace have allowed NATO and Middle East nations to transform the hostile relationships that dominated the Cold War into stable security alliances with most Eastern and Central European countries (Wolff, 2012:12). Military-to-military collaborations, border security, civil emergency planning and preparedness, defence reform and fighting terrorism and new security threats have in recent years dominated cooperation between NATO and Middle Eastern countries. Such efforts have played an important role in stabilising the Mediterranean’s security and averting potential security threats (Lamy, 2012:51). Conclusion The Middle East and the Western Mediterranean are two of the most geopolitically important regions in the world. They play a vital role in shaping not just their affairs, but also international affairs (Wolff, 2012:18). Evidence shows that more efforts need to be made to stabilise them and ensure that negative effects of their problems are buffered to prevent other regions (e.g. Africa) from becoming unstable. This has proven difficult though because so many interests are involved, and some parties are not willing to cooperate (Lamy, 2012:53). Evidence also shows that the two regions will remain influential in global affairs even if their issues are resolved. The onus is on the international community to redouble its efforts. References Lamy, S. (2012) Introduction to global politics, New York, Oxford University Press. MacQueen, B. (2013) An introduction to Middle East politics, London, Sage Publications. Miller, D. (2008) The Middle East, Detroit, Greenhaven Press. Solomon, H. (2008) Challenges to global security geopolitics and power in an age of transition, London, I.B. Tauris. Wolff, S. (2012) The Mediterranean dimension of the European Unions internal security, Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. Read More