European Union's Barcelona Process and Mediterranean Security

摘要

This thesis examines the Barcelona Process, a European Union initiative launched in 1995 with the goal of building a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The Barcelona Process links twelve countries of the southern littoral of the Mediterranean Sea with the European Union. The participants have three goals: shared prosperity, enhanced cultural exchanges, and political stability. This thesis investigates the European Union's objectives in pursuing this process. Three possible motivations are analyzed: promoting prosperity and democracy, expanding a European Union-led trade bloc, or containing instability. The available evidence provides more support for the latter two motivations than the first. This thesis also investigates the North-South divide within the European Union itself, the influence of NATO and the United States, and possible solutions in view of the difficulties encountered thus far in pursuing the initiative's goals.