Rethinking the New ENP: A Vision for an Enhanced European Role in the Arab Revolutions

Abstract

This article assesses European responses to the Arab uprisings and, in particular, the introduced change in the European Union policy toward its southern neighborhood. The presented analyses provide a profound scrutiny and assessment of the new version of the European Neighbourhood Policy, empirical evidence of persisting security considerations post-2011 in Euro–Arab relations, and a more elaborated vision of future Euro–Arab relations, attempting to balance between three considerations: security, democracy, and governance.

Keywords:

• Arab Revolutions
• Arab Spring
• Euro–Arab Relations
• Euro–Mediterranean Relations
• European Neighbourhood Policy

Notes

This article is based on a broader research project that the author has conducted in a research fellowship at the Research College KFG, “The Transformative Power of Europe,” Freie Universität Berlin, in 2011–2012. The research project has been published as Sally Khalifa Isaac (May 2012), Europe and the Arab Revolutions: From a Weak to a Proactive Response to a Changing Neighborhood. KFG Working Papers Series 39, Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG), Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin.

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