A Southern Perspective and Assessment of NATO’s Mediterranean Security Dialogue

Abstract

Centuries of foreign domination have defined the history of the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Across the Mediterranean came the Macedonians, Romans, Crusaders, and later, French and British colonial powers. After the end of World War II, the security in this area had been largely shaped by the rivalry between United States hegemony and Soviet ideological and political influence. A new security factor was added in 1948 by the creation of Israel with the support of the West. Four Arab-Israeli wars were fought in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973. In the 1956 war, the Suez Crisis, France and Britain waged a war against Egypt and occupied the Suez Canal zone. Even after the signing of peace treaties with Israel by Egypt (1979), and later by Jordan (1994), the Arab fears of Israel have remained. The continued Israeli occupation of the Syrian and Palestinian territories, and the Israeli superiority in conventional and nuclear weapons has rendered the security environment in the Mediterranean uncertain.