About The Mediterranean Program

The Mediterranean region – southern Europe, Turkey, North Africa, the Levant, and the maritime approaches to these areas – is of key importance to European as well as American interests. But the Mediterranean will pose significant challenges for transatlantic cooperation over the next decade as the larger strategic landscape rapidly evolves. Europe’s Mediterranean policy is developing to accommodate the new political conditions in the region but may be hampered by the EU’s internal difficulties and the different priorities of individual nation states.  The U.S., for its part, has been a power in the Mediterranean for over 200 years, but has never had a Mediterranean strategy per se and will be increasingly engaged in other larger theaters such as the Asia Pacific. 

Against this background, GMF’s Mediterranean Policy Program promotes transatlantic and north-south policy-oriented debate on Mediterranean issues and strategies with a view to creating synergies as well as streamlining European and American initiatives in the region. Priority areas include:

o    Understanding key trends in Mediterranean societies, including opportunities for democratization, development, south-south cooperation and integration;
o    Research on key functional issues affecting Mediterranean security and development;
o    Strengthening the policy debate on the region and fostering transatlantic cooperation on Mediterranean strategy.

Research and Analysis

o    Grants and Commissioned Studies - As part of our program of work on Mediterranean affairs, GMF supports the work of leading analysts in the US, Europe and around the region to address critical and emerging topics.

o    Strategic Partnership with the Italian Institute for International Affairs (IAI) - GMF has made a multi-year strategic grant to the Italian Institute for International Affairs (IAI) to support the work of the Mediterranean Policy Program, and to promote transatlantic research and publication on Mediterranean issues.

Related Publications

Mediterranean Paper Series

The Mediterranean Paper Series is written by resident and non-resident experts and focuses on policy matters confronting the Mediterranean region.

Paralleli Briefs

These analyses will appear periodically and are the product of a GMF grant to Paralleli, a Turin-based institute specializing in the political economy of the region.

On Turkey Paper Series

On Turkey is an ongoing analysis series about Turkish politics and foreign policy.  Focusing on dispatches from on-the-ground Turkish observers, these analyses address Turkey followers on both sides of the Atlantic.