The Ocean Swallows the Mediterranean
Mostafa Zein Al-Hayat - 08/07/08//
In his book entitled "Together," French President Nicolas Sarkozy writes that the relationship between the northern and southern banks of the Mediterranean falls among the priorities of his policy because the Mediterranean basin is both a battlefield and an arena for cooperation. It is a basin where civilizations clash, where the past is concentrated, where we gain everything or lose everything. He directs criticism at the Euro-Med Partnership that held its convention in Barcelona over a decade ago and whose provisions remain on paper.
To break free of this limbo, Sarkozy suggests that France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Cyprus work on establishing a Mediterranean union. He believes that such a union is capable of resolving all the pending dilemmas between the two sides of the Mediterranean, starting with the European relations with Turkey, reaching a resolution over the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and ending with the issues of migration and development.
He further envisions the union and suggests a Mediterranean Council similar to the European Council, a bank for investment, and cooperation to combat corruption, crime and terrorism.
Where does the US stand from the Mediterranean Union? What is the position of non-Mediterranean Europe, especially Britain and Germany? Can this bloc surpass the conflicts among its peoples and nations and see the light before finding a solution to the Palestinian question which remains the core of these conflicts?
In fact, since his rise to power, Sarkozy has been trying to build new relations, especially with the states of the Maghreb Union. He concluded a few commercial agreements in Libya and Algeria and tried to balance his sympathy to Israel with his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. He also initiated openness with Syria but backed off when faced with an American rejection, but then returned to the policy of openness with Syria after it facilitated the election of a Lebanese president and announced entering into negotiations with Israel through Turkish mediation. He even invited Syrian President Bashar Assad to Paris in the hope of holding a meeting between him and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but in doing so he upset his domestic allies and Washington. Yet even if this meeting took place, it would be a formality since the Syrians insist on the presence of the US as a partner in any direct negotiations with the Hebrew State, partly to guarantee any agreement reached, and also to guarantee a détente with Washington since this implies lifting sanctions on Damascus, an end to the instigation against the Syrian regime along with attempts to besiege it internally and externally, at times on charges of supporting terrorism in Iraq and Palestine, and at times under the banner of exporting democracy. The détente, moreover, would bring an end to the political exploitation of the international tribunal intended to prosecute the assassins of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
In other words, Syria and all Arab states that still demand a French (European) role to settle the Middle East question still perceive this role as a helpful factor and continue to believe that any solution, if ever, will not last long, especially if it did not take their Middle Eastern interests into consideration.
Fully aware of this reality, Sarkozy announced his intention to deepen ties with the US administration before arriving to power. He is still struggling to regain France's role in Europe and the Middle East in cooperation with Washington. However, the strength of this relationship has yet to be tested. Moreover, Sarkozy has to review the experience of former President Jacques Chirac who in the 1990s attempted to play a role in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations only to be accused by the Americans and Israelis of bias towards the Palestinians, hence putting an end to his role. Nothing prevents the repetition of a similar scenario with his successor, whether he tried to influence the Syrian-Israeli negotiations or establish the Union of the Mediterranean, especially if France and with it the Mediterranean Europe constituted the backbone of this union.
In his well-known book, "The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World," French historian Fernan Braudel wrote that civilizations are the paradise and hell of human beings. Braudel was analyzing Mediterranean relationships based on the contribution of the Mediterranean basin to the modern civilization. His ideas stimulated a wave of calls to revive ancient ties, and Mediterranean associations were formed. However, everyone forgot that the center had moved from the ports of Alexandria, Beirut, Haifa, Marseilles, Spain and Portugal to the ports of the ocean which swallowed everything once the US inherited the old colonial world and used modern technology to reproduce its African and Mediterranean experience in the form of hell.
Sarkozy's call for the Mediterranean Union may end up with the same fate of Euro-Med Partnership which was launched in Barcelona before withering away without a trace.
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