Fragmented Borders Interdependence And External Relations

This book investigates relations between Israel, the Palestinian territories and the European Union by considering them as interlinked entities, with relations between any two of the three parties affecting the other side. The contributors to this edited volume explore different aspects of Israeli-Palestinian-European Union interconnectedness.

This book investigates relations between Israel, the Palestinian territories and the European Union by considering them as interlinked entities, with relations between any two of the three parties affecting the other side. The contributors to this edited volume explore different aspects of Israeli-Palestinian-European Union interconnectedness.

This anthology examines and deconstructs what Israeli security looks like and how its various security identities have evolved both before the establishment of the state and in the years and decades since 1948. It casts light on how aspects of Israel’s foreign relations have been shaped as much by internal politics as by external challenge. Further, not only does it answer the questions surrounding Israel’s past, but examines carefully what type of country it has now become. Compared to much of the turbulence in the region, Israel’s diplomacies have been remarkably resilient and inventive. With the background of 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration this book is a multidisciplinary study using several different methodological approaches; from discursive analyses, to theories of memories and identity, to interviews with Israeli soldiers in the field, to a legal approach to the topic, as well as International Relations studies and traditional archival studies. South Africa was one of Israel’s main partners in terms of security cooperation and weapons research and development until the fall of the apartheid regime. This has been compensated with Israel opening up diplomatic relations with China (1991) and India (1992) and extending its ties with Japan. While the EU often criticize Israel’s policies against the Palestinians, this is mostly rhetoric as for practical purposes Israel is like a member of the EU. This comprehensive volume studying contemporary Israel is an invaluable resource for students and scholars interested in Foreign and Security Policy, Israel and the Middle East.

The Mediterranean space, defined by a major sea, a large number of littoral countries and to some extent their hinterlands, is at the same time an interface between Europe, Africa and Asia. This brings complex challenges in terms of achieving peace and stability. Recently it has received intense international attention through the internal destructiveness and spill-over from conflicts, primarily those waged in Libya, Syria and, more remotely, Iraq. This Handbook provides an overview of the political processes that shape the Mediterranean region in the contemporary context. It explores the issues of crucial importance to Mediterranean dynamics through a series of analytical sections that guide the reader towards a comprehensive understanding of the main regional interactions and trends. The Handbook explores: the complex historical formation of the contemporary Mediterranean geopolitical perspectives issues around peace and conflict the political economy of the region the role of non-state actors and social movements societal and cultural trends. The wide range of contributions from many of the leading academic experts on the region offers not only insights into the debates and processes that structure each theme, but also key pointers for a more general understanding of how distinct political, economic, social and cultural dynamics interact across the region. It will therefore be a key resource for policy-makers and students and scholars of Mediterranean politics and international relations.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the influential ERTA doctrine, this book analyses and contextualises the entire breadth of the jurisprudence of EU external relations law through a systematic, case-by-case account of the field. The entire framework of EU external relations law has been built from the ground up by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. At the beginning of the field's emergence, the legal questions to be answered concerned the division of powers and competence between, firstly, the Member States and that of the Union; and secondly, the division of powers and competence between the different institutions of the Union. Questions on such matters continue to be asked, but more contemporarily, new legal questions have arisen that have been in need of adjudication, including questions concerning the autonomy of Union law; the relationship between the Union and other international organisations; the relationship between Union law and international law; the scope and breadth of international agreements; amongst others. The book features established academic scholars, judges, agents of institutions and Member States, and legal practitioners in the field of EU external relations law, analysing over 90 cases in which the Court has legally shaped the theory and practice of the external dimension of legal Europe.

The study proposes a different understanding of the complex relationship between Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa, it challenges the conventional wisdom on Europe's benevolent foreign policy and the image of 'Fortress Europe' alike.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of EU-Tunisia negotiations during the last three decades to understand what ‘joint ownership’ means in Euro-Mediterranean relations. The principle of joint ownership often figures in the EU’s public discourse of the EU and other international actors. Yet, it has been scarcely conceptualised and there is little research on which factors determine its presence or lack thereof. The book contributes to its definition, highlighting its evolving nature and intersubjective dimension. The author further explains how bargaining rules, practices, and procedures affect joint ownership by constraining or empowering actors, and shaping their expectations about which options they perceive are possible during the negotiations. Negotiation analysis proves useful for showing how, and to what extent, the interests of both sides eventually feature in Euro-Mediterranean agreements and enables scholars to bring back third countries' agency and perceptions into the study of the EU's external relations.

Since the peak of Europe's so-called 2015 'migration crisis', the dominant governmental response has been to turn to deterrent border security across the Mediterranean and construct border walls throughout the EU. During the same timeframe, EU citizens are widely represented - by politicians, by media sources, and by opinion polls - as fearing a loss of control over national and EU borders. Despite the intensification of EU border security with visibly violent effects, EU citizens are portrayed as 'threatened majorities'. These dynamics beg the question: Why is it that tougher deterrent border security and walling appear to have heightened rather than diminished border anxieties among EU citizens? While the populist mantra of 'taking back control' purports to speak on behalf of EU citizens, little is known about how diverse EU citizens conceptualize, understand, and talk about the so-called 'crisis'. Yet, if social and cultural meanings of 'migration' and 'border security' are constructed intersubjectively and contested politically (Weldes et al. 1999), then EU citizens --as well as governmental elites and people on the move-- are significant in shaping dominant framings of and responses to the 'crisis'. This book argues that, in order to address the overarching puzzle, a conceptual and methodological shift is required in the way that border security is understood: a new approach is urgently required that complements 'top-down' analyses of elite governmental practices with 'bottom-up' vernacular studies of how those practices are both reproduced and contested in everyday life.