Meeting the Geopolitical Challenges of the Arab Spring: A Call for a joint EU-Turkish Agenda
by Günter Verheugen
This policy brief discusses the potential for cooperation between Turkey and the EU in the countries that are going through political transformation in the Middle East and North Africa. Since both sides have a vested interest in seeing stability, peace and strong economic development in this shared neighbourhood, they must work together and develop a common strategy by which to combine their strengths and advantages while offsetting their weaknesses. The brief highlights how the relationships between Turkey, the EU, and the Arab world are all fraught with diffi culties and tensions that prevent coordinated action between the fi rst two parties. Despite these limitations, if the European Union and Turkey managed to cooperate on such a geopolitically important project, it would have an enormous additional benefit: revitalizing the stalled relationship between the EU and Turkey and lending it a sense of urgency and importance.
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