The United States and the Mediterranean : a new strategic context

Abstract

The United States has been a Mediterranean power for over 200 years, but American strategy toward the region remains fragmented and diffuse. Traditionally, the US approach has been divided, intellectually and bureaucratically, along rigid geographic lines: Europe, including Turkey on the one hand, and the Middle East/North Africa on the other. With the important exception of wider-ranging military commands, including EUCOM and the Sixth Fleet, American foreign and security policy lack the trans-regional, north-south aspect that has been a key feature of European strategy toward the region in recent decades. How durable is this fragmented approach, and does a new Administration in Washington offer an opportunity for change? This analysis argues that the US is unlikely to develop a specific Mediterranean policy any time soon. But a changing strategic environment suggests that Mediterranean issues and Mediterranean activities are likely to become more central to transatlantic cooperation over the next few years. From an American perspective, there will be important new opportunities for cooperation on both sides of the Mediterranean, and on both sides of the Atlantic.