This volume presents essential aspects of Mediterranean politics to be reconsidered in the light of the Arab upheavals since 2010. Taking as its focal point the question of how far European-Mediterranean relations are challenged by the various developments, this book explores the relationship between security and democracy within the Arab countries and in European-Mediterranean relations. The ambiguity between the promotion of democratic values and the preservation of common interests in economic and security affairs is stirred up by changing political actors and new conflictual constellations inside the Arab countries. The chapters in this volume offer range of different angles on the re-formulation of the European Neighbourhood Policy as well as the Democracy Assistance towards the Southern Mediterranean. They discuss the major security issues of a cooperative security architecture, counter-terrorism action, migration control and security sector reform in order to explore the relevant challenges in the field. The contributions analyse the recent developments and challenges, provide critical insights into those fields and endeavour to provide some proposals for improving Mediterranean cooperation on democracy and security. This book was published as a special issue of Democracy and Security.

Der Sammelband thematisiert die Gestaltungsspielraume und -restriktionen der Europaischen Union. Es geht dabei um die Frage, in welchem Masse es der supranationalen Ebene gelingt, eigenstandige politische Handlungsalternativen im europaischen Mehrebenensystem zu formulieren und durchzusetzen. Drei Bereiche europaischer Politik werden hier unterschieden: Strukturen (polity) auf der supranationalen Ebene, die mitgliedstaatliche und regionale Politik uberformen; Interaktionsprozesse zwischen europaischer, nationaler und regionaler Ebene in einzelnen inneren Politikfeldern (policies) der Europaischen Union; Handlungsmoglichkeiten und -grenzen der Europaischen Union als internationaler Akteur.