2. Mediterranean Security and the World Policies. The Overlooked Link

The Mediterranean area is the large geopolitical area encompassing the countries that are concerned about, and directly affected by, the events occurring all around the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean area is as well an interregional area because it is bordered by different international political regions, the Middle East and the Gulf, North Africa, and Europe. The current debate on the actual state of the world political order tends to overestimate the regional fragmentation of the world order. Actually, the world order foundational policies are in trouble today, but they are far from being irrelevant to the Mediterranean affairs. Security from aggression and violence, security from economic crisis, security from threats to territorial sovereignty are the various dimensions of security that continue to depend on the world policies also when the Mediterranean countries come into account. The present chapter reviews the controversy over emerging regional fragmentation and analyses the impact of the foundational world policies on the security politics of the Mediterranean area. In the concluding section, focus is on the future of world politics and how the reshaping of order will affect the Mediterranean area.