Memory(ies) at work : EU discourse and the legacy of history in Euro-Mediterranean relations : a temporal and discourse-historical approach to international relations
(2014)
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- For decades, the European Union (EU) has been trying to define a coherent cooperation framework for the Mediterranean region. From policies to strategy, from a partnership to a union, the EU has imagined many different cooperation models whose outcomes have nevertheless very often been put into question. Its last initiative, the so-called Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), seems all the same to be in a cleft stick. Regarding the deep-rooted Israeli-Arab conflict and following the recent Arab protests that led to crucial changes in the region, European partners have not find the way yet to breathe new life into this project and to reshape their relations with this highly strategic area. From the ruins of unconvincing policies and of various projects’ shortages the following question emerges: how is it that the EU meets so many difficulties in forging a durable and stable relation with its Mediterranean neighbours? Ambiguities still characterize Euro-Mediterranean relations today. This is at least what the PhD research intends to demonstrate. More precisely, there seems to be an ongoing tension in EU’s approach towards Mediterranean partners. It continuously oscillates between a seemingly articulated wish of rapprochement and a yet potent alienation discourse. Why, for instance, are there so many different cooperation frameworks elaborated by the EU for the Mediterranean region? Why have there been so many failures in the so-called Euro-Mediterranean cooperation? Why are Mediterranean partners feeling that the EU does not really want to invest in Euro-Mediterranean relations? Why is it actually that important for the European Union to cooperate with the Mediterranean area? Throughout the different European initiatives, recurrent lexical images and metaphorical themes have been used to depict Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. In this swirl of narrative schemes, the conflicting past, related spatial configurations and representations of the Other appear to have a decisive influence. This research proposes to delve into EU official documents and speeches and to investigate the way the EU is constructing its Mediterranean partner. What is meant by the term “Mediterranean”? Has the region been clearly defined? Is the Mediterranean a European invention as some scholars suggest? What do terms such as “a ring of friends” or “a clash of civilisations” refer to? What is the narrative universe surrounding the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation? Are there any questions of identity behind these words? To promote mutual understanding, the two shores have engaged in many dialogues, but do the people speak the same language? Aside from rendering the evolution of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation and of the EU’s foreign policy toward the Mediterranean, this thesis will, above all, explore Euro-Mediterranean relations from a constructivist and discursive perspective. Words will be questioned using a critical discourse analysis, and more precisely a discourse-historical approach. This one is combined with insights from memory studies. All in all, the research will shed a new light on the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue and will particularly discuss the emerging European identity(ies)
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de Moriamé, V. (2014). Memory(ies) at work : EU discourse and the legacy of history in Euro-Mediterranean relations : a temporal and discourse-historical approach to international relations. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/47577