Saidy, Brahim

The Role of NATO in the Mediterranean and the Middle East - 2009.


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NATO has undergone major changes to adapt to new global security challenges since the End of the Cold War. The Alliance has expanded its geographical jurisdiction, becoming a global military alliance. To cope with security threats in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, NATO has launched the Alliance’s Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. However, the development of these two partnerships is hampered by the specificity of regional conflicts, the divergent interests of the allies, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the negative image of NATO in the Arab world. The deepening of NATO’s role in the region requires that the Alliance develops a policy to resolve regional conflicts and re-evaluate the mechanisms of cooperation.