This brief, the first in a series on the Mediterranean and the economic crisis, explores the impact of the global pressures on key countries in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, including Israel and Turkey. The analysis suggests that most countries in the region are weathering the financial aspects of the crisis reasonably well, helped in some cases by a sharp recovery in energy prices.

On the trade front, the picture is more complicated. Turkey, in particular, has seen a marked increase in exports outside traditional European markets, with potentially significant implications for Mediterranean and transatlantic partners. The continued ability of the EU's southern partners to address challenges of crisis and recovery will play a key role in shaping the future of Euro-Mediterranean relations. The emergence of a more integrated Mediterranean economy could be one positive outcome of the current economic stress.

These analyses by Franco Zallio will appear periodically in 2010, and are the product of a GMF grant to Paralleli, a Turin-based institute specializing in the political economy of the region. The series is part of a larger research effort within GMF's Mediterranean Policy Program, with ongoing reports from our strategic partnership with the Institute of International Affairs (IAI) in Rome, alongside studies commissioned by GMF in Washington.