Security challenges in the Mediterranean : NATO’s role

Abstract

As a meeting point for three different continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa), the strategic and geopolitical relevance of the Mediterranean region cannot be overstated. Throughout the centuries, it has witnessed the development of glorious civilizations and flourishing trade routes. In pre-modern times, it already experienced all known types of international systems: bipolar (Rome vs. Carthage), hegemonic/unipolar (the Roman ‘lake’), and multipolar (the Medieval Italian seafaring republics, the fledgling European nation-States and the rising Islam). In the modern age, up to the 20th century, it lost centrality but not relevance, and remained a major arena of great power competition and commercial and cultural exchange.