The Maghreb Countries and the Image of Europe and EU: Historical Perspective, Political discourse and Perceptions
Objectives and Research significance
The research project investigates the perceptions of Europe and the EU in the public official political discourse of the Maghrebian political elites (Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Libya) in the period spanning from 1957, when theEuropean Economic Community (EEC) was established, to 2011.
By placing the Maghreb, an area with a special geopolitical significance for the EU, at the core of its analysis, the project contributes to the debate on a theme that involves the scientific community and society as a whole.
The research project aims at contributing to the ongoing international academic debate on EU external perceptions and fill some gaps in the literature and at providing and disseminate new data and information to better understand both the EU image in the Maghreb’s states and the current political processes taking place in Libya, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
The broad research questions are the following:
- In which ways and to what extent the colonial experiences and their legacies had an impact on the perceptions of the EU and Europe in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Libya? What are the convergences and divergences among the different countries? Is there a shared “Maghrebian image of the EU”?
- Was the EEC seen as a “development power” during the Cold War? How was its development cooperation policy perceived in comparison with US and Soviet Union policies?
- What are the perceptions of EU policies in democracy promotion and protection of human rights in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Libya? Was there a shift in such perceptions after the so called “Arab Springs” ?
- How are the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Union for the Mediterranean perceived? Have these perceptions recently shifted because of European migration policies and the current refugee crisis?
References
General references
Chaban, Natalia and Martin Holland, eds. (2014), Communicating Europe in Times of Crisis. External Perceptions of the European Union, London, Palgrave-Macmillan.
Chaban, Natalia and Martin Holland eds. (2019), Shaping the EU Global Strategy. Partners and Perceptions, London, Palgrave-Macmillan.
Lucarelli, Sonia and Lorenzo Fioramonti (2010), External Perceptions of the European Union as a Global Actor, Abingdon -New York, Routledge.
Ortega, M. ed. (2004), Global views on the European Union, Chaillot Paper No. 72.
Asian countries
Chaban, Natalia and Martin Holland, eds. (2008), The European Union and the Asia-Pacific: media, public and elite perceptions of the EU, Abingdon and New York, Routledge.
Chaban, Natalia, Martin Holland, P. Ryan, eds. (2009), The EU through the eyes of Asia: new cases, new findings, Singapore and London, World Scientific.
Holland, Martin and Natalia Chaban (2014), Europe and Asia: Perceptions from afar, Baden Baden, Nomos.
Jain, Rajendra K. (2014), Asian Perceptions of the EU: External views on the EU as a Civilian Power – India and China in Comparison, NFG Working Paper, Free University of Berlin.
Lisbonne de Vergeron, Karine (2011), Chinese and Indian Views of Europe since the Crisis: new perspectives from the emerging Asian giants, Paris, Fondation Robert Schuman.
Shambaugh, D., E. Sandschneider, and H. Zhou eds. (2008), China-Europe Relations: perceptions, policies and prospects, Abingdon-New York, Routledge, pp. 148–173.
Other countries
Croci, Osvaldo and Livianna Tossutti (2009), Canada and the EU: A Story of Unrequitted Attraction, in Finn Laursen ed., The EU in the Global Political Economy, Brussels, Peter Lang.
Deblock, Christian (2008), Le Canada et l’Union européenne: du dialogue économique au partenariat renforcé?, “Cahier de recherche du GRIC”, Centre études internationales et mondialisation, Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal.
Elgström, Ole and Natalia Chaban (2018), On a journey with uncertain destination: Metaphors and images of the EU in Russian and Ukrainian media after Brexit vote, “European Foreign Affairs Review”, 23.
Gulyaeva, Olga (2013), Russian Vision of the EU in its Interactions with the Neighborhood, “Baltic Journal of European Studies”, 3, 3.
Secrieru, Stanislav (2010), Russia’s Mainstream Perceptions of the EU and its Member States, The Study Programme on European Security (SPES), Policy Paper, 11/2010.
Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, Analysis of the Perception of the EU and EU’s Policies Abroad, 2015, .
International Organizations
Ahnlid, Anders and Ole Elgström (2014), Challenging the European Union: the rising powers and the USA in the Doha Round, “Contemporary Politics”, 20, 1, pp. 77-89
Bäckstrand, Karin and Ole Elgström (2013), The EU’s role in climate change negotiations: from leader to ‘leadiator’, “Journal of European Public Policy”, 20, 10.
Elgström, Ole (2007), Outsiders’ Perceptions of the European Union in International Trade Negotiations, “Journal of Common Market Studies”, 45, 4, pp. 949–967.
Elgström, Ole, (2015), Legitimacy, Credibility and Coherence – Perceptions of EU Roles in Global Climate Change Negotiations, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Working Papers, 2015/6.
Euro-Mediterranean relations, European Neighborhood policy :
Gillespie, Richard and Richard Youngs eds. (2002), The European Union and Democracy Promotion: The Case of North Africa, London, Frank Cass.
Kourtelis, Christos (2015), The Political Economy of Euro-Mediterranean Relations: European Neighborhood Policy in North Africa, Basingstoke, Palgrave-Macmillan.
Fontana, Iole (2017), EU Neighbourhood Policy in the Maghreb: Implementing the ENP in Tunisia and Morocco before and after the Arab Uprising, London-New York, Routledge.
Joffé, G. (2016), Southern attitudes towards an integrated Mediterranean region, in R. Youngs ed., Twenty years of euro-Mediterranean relations, London-New York, Routledge, pp. 27-41.
Schumacher, Tobias, Andreas Marchetti and Thomas Demmelhuber eds. (2018), The Routledge Handbook on the European Neighbourhood Policy, Abingdon-New York, Routledge.
Maghreb countries
Çelenk, Ayşe Aslıhan (2009), Promoting democracy in Algeria: the EU factor and the preferences of the political elite, “Democratization”, 16, 1, pp. 857-875.
Di Pieri, Rosita e Federica Zardo (2017), Changing perceptions of the European Union in the MENA region before and after the Arab Spring: the Case of Tunisia, in Manuela Ceretta, Barbara Curli eds., Discourses and Counter-discourses on Europe: From the Enlightenment to the EU, London-New York, Routledge, pp. 244-260.
Driss, Ahmed (2009), Southern Perceptions about the Union for the Mediterranean, EuroMeSCo report.
Krüger, Laura-Theresa et Edmund Ratka (2014), The Perception of European Policies in Tunisia after the Arab Spring , “L’Europe en Formation”, 371, 1, pp. 9-25.
Paradiso, Maria and Sabrina Favaro (2019), The EU and the Symbolic, territorial and institutional organization of the Mediterranean as a Global Mobile Space: Moroccan Students Perspectives, in Maria Paradiso ed., Mediterranean Mobilities: Europe’s Changing Relationships, Springer, pp. 27-36.