MEDAC Awarded Jean Monnet Chair The Chairman of the University of Malta’s Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC), President Emeritus Professor Guido de Marco, has just been awarded a Jean Monnet Chair in the EU and Dialogue between People and Cultures.

Over the past three decades Professor de Marco has lectured at the University of Malta and other international universities and regularly been a keynote speaker at conferences examining Euro-Mediterranean relations. Professor de Marco has also published several books dealing with the international relations of the Mediterranean.

The new Jean Monnet Chair will continue to build on the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies’ track record of articulating the role of the European Union when it comes to promoting a dialogue between the peoples and cultures of the Mediterranean. It will also focus on stimulating teaching, research and reflection on EU visibility in the world and the EU modality of regional integration as an example of peaceful integration and the rule of international law.

The main rationale of this very important Jean Monnet Chair will be to contribute towards the goal of communicating more clearly the role of the EU in the Mediterranean to young academics, policy makers, and professionals. This will include examining closely the important contribution the EU has been making when it comes to fostering cooperation between different peoples and cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean area through such initiatives as the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and the European Neighbourhood Policy.

The Jean Monnet Chair in the EU and Dialogue between People and Cultures at MEDAC will therefore assist in developing a better understanding of the European Union as an advocate of peace and stability at a regional level of analysis. Particular attention will be dedicated to highlighting the political and security dimension, the economic and financial dimension and the socio-cultural and human dimension of the European Union’s Partnership initiative in Euro-Mediterranean relations.

The Jean Monnet Chair will thus strengthen further the post-graduate academic training that the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies is already offering to its body of international students. It will also seek to generate wider interest among academics and policy makers to carry out advanced research on the EU’s role as a promoter of dialogue between peoples and cultures in general, and in the Mediterranean in particular.