The East Mediterranean and Regional Security: A Transatlantic Trialogue
Turkey has been a military ally of the United States and the European Union for decades, and both Washington and Brussels consider a stable relationship with Ankara of strategic importance. However, Turkey’s authoritarian turn and continued violation of the rule of law, its stance in the conflicts in Syria and Libya, and its claim for energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, among other recent events, have led to a deterioration of relations between the three. At the same time, regional instability in the Eastern Mediterranean has become a reason of concern for all three—although for different reasons.
Since 2019, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung offices in Washington, DC, and Istanbul and the Foreign Policy Research Institute have partnered to bring together regional experts in order to discuss how the precarious security dynamics and alarming humanitarian situation in the region could be better addressed. This publication analyzes the policies of the United States, and the European Union, and Turkey in the region and their impact on the relationship between Ankara, Washington, and Brussels.
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung or the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
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Table of contents
Preface 1
Beyond Energy: The Geopolitical Determinants of Turkey’s Mediterranean Policy 2
Is the Atlantic Pact Sinking in the Deep Eastern Mediterranean? 11
Economic Interests, Political Conflicts, and External Interferences: The Complex Interlocking of the Libyan Crisis 21
The Siege Mentality: How Fear of Migration Explains the EU’s Approach to Libya 31
Why Turkey Intervened in Libya 41
Competing Power Schemes over Libya and the Challenge for Europe 52
Transatlantic Tensions: Lessons From the 2020 Trialogue 61