https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/475 2026-04-04T13:48:44Z 2026-04-04T13:48:44Z Lutterbeck, Derek https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/143047 2026-01-23T13:45:14Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Mediterranean migration after WW II : bridge or barrier? Authors: Lutterbeck, Derek Abstract: The Mediterranean has always been viewed as either a bridge or a barrier, depending on the spheres of human interaction or the time periods concerned. Thus, since times immemorial the Mediterranean Sea has been an important trading highway allowing for the circulation not only of goods but also of technologies, such as navigation techniques, as well as ideas, including the alphabet, religions and philosophical concepts among its riparian peoples. It has also been a space of shared cultural practices as manifest in common diets, architecture, agriculture, music and even social customs. On the other hand, the Mediterranean has been characterised by important divisions. For example, since the advance of Islam along its southern and eastern shores, it has come to be seen as a major fault line between Christian Europe and the Muslim world. In economic terms, the Mediterranean is nowadays also an important dividing line between a rich and prosperous north and a much less developed south. Finally, as an area of intense conflict, it has seen numerous wars and conquests, between empires, states and other political entities located along its shores.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Lutterbeck, Derek https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/135635 2025-05-21T12:55:48Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Tunisia and Libya Authors: Lutterbeck, Derek Abstract: Even though Tunisia and Libya-apart from being immediate neighbours-share similar historical experiences as Ottoman provinces since the sixteenth century and, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, European (i.e. French and Italian) colonies, their armed forces have developed in radically different ways. Indeed, among North African or Arab militaries, they can be said to occupy opposite sides on a spectrum in several respects. Whereas the Armed Forces of Tunisia have been a comparatively small and under-equipped but cohesive and, at least according to regional standards, very professional and meritocratic force, their Libyan counterparts have been rather large and awash with weaponry, but also highly fragmented and pervaded by clientelism. Moreover, while the Tunisian military has since its inception adopted a purely defensive posture, Libya's armed forces have been involved in a number of foreign military 'adventures'. Several factors account for these divergent trajectories, including the vastly different policies-both internal and external pursued by the two countries' post-independence leaders, the relative homogeneity of Tunisian society, which contrasts with Libya's tribalism, as well as the latter's abundance of fossil fuel deposits, which have funded Libya's at times massive military build-up. The aim of this chapter is to analyse and compare the evolution and characteristics of the armed forces of Tunisia and Libya focusing on several key aspects. While both militaries as well as those of other Arab states-have received considerable scholarly attention in the aftermath of the popular uprisings of 2010/2011 which have gripped many countries of the region, the Tunisian and Libyan armed forces have rarely been subject to systematic comparison, arguably also because of their vast differences. The chapter begins with a consideration of the historical origins of the militaries of the two countries, followed by a discussion of their security and defence policies. It then turns to the organizational structure of military forces and civil-military relations in Tunisia and Libya. This is followed by an examination of trends in military spending, arms transfers as well as weaponry of land, sea, and air forces. The final sections focus on the main military operations and deployments of the two armed forces, while the conclusion contains some brief reflections on their responses to the popular uprisings of 2010/2011, which in both countries led to the downfall of their long-standing leaders.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Lutterbeck, Derek https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/118508 2024-02-14T08:31:29Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Die Sicherheitslage im Nahen und Mittleren Osten : De- und Re-Eskalation, fragile Staatlichkeit und geopolitische Rivalitäten Authors: Lutterbeck, Derek Abstract: Die Sicherheitslage im Nahen und Mittleren Osten stellt eine komplexe Gemengelage aus reduzierten Spannungen bei gleichzeitig eskalierenden, bereits seit Langem bestehenden Konflikten dar. In manchen Staaten ist in den vergangenen Jahren ein Rückgang der bewaffneten Gewalt und eine instabile Pattsituation feststellbar. Andererseits eskalierte der israelisch-palästinensische Konflikt wie schon seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr. Dieser Konflikt hat das Potenzial, sich zu einem Krieg auszuweiten, der große Teile der Region umfasst. All dies ereignet sich vor dem Hintergrund zunehmend fragiler Staatlichkeit und sogar von „Staatsversagen“ in der Region. Zudem nehmen auch geopolitische Spannungen wieder zu, die sowohl „traditionelle“ Großmächte als auch „aufstrebende“ Mächte betreffen – sowohl innerhalb als auch außerhalb der Region.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Lutterbeck, Derek https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/116724 2023-12-22T07:07:02Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Border encroachments : comparing cooperative border controls along the EU’s external frontier Authors: Lutterbeck, Derek Abstract: The aim of this article is to analyse the cooperation between European and neighbouring countries in controlling the outer borders of the EU. Based on a comparison of six case studies of cross-border cooperation – Italy-Albania, Italy-Libya, Spain-Morocco, Spain-Mauritania, Spain-Senegal, and Greece-Turkey –the article shows that border controls along the external frontier of the EU have not only become increasingly collaborative but, in most cases, have also involved an outward expansion of the border enforcement apparatus of European countries into the sovereign space of adjacent states such as their territorial waters and even their territories. The modalities and extent of these border encroachments have varied considerably, however. While several factors are identified which have impacted these extended border controls, the most important seems to be the power differential between the two countries concerned: the greater the power asymmetry – broadly defined in military and economic terms – between the two states involved in cooperative border controls, the more far-reaching the intrusion of border enforcement efforts into the weaker country’s jurisdiction has been.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z