Peace and Stability in the Middle East and North Africa [antikvár]

Preface The time of global change has a decisive impact on the pohtical, economic, and social structures in the Middle East. With bipolarity gone, the strategic relevance assigned to parts of the Middle East has dechned and commitments by the great powers have been reversed. Within this changing global environment, three subjects head the agenda of current regional poHcy: first, at the level of international relations, the peace process does not offer adequate guarantees for regional peace, and it has yet to prove sufficient sta-bihty to survive in times of strain. Persistent efforts to increase armaments capacities and, in particular, the externalization of internal conflicts could further intensify tension in the region. Second, in terms of economic development, the success of the region has been modest so far. The region will have to make sure that its productive resources are more effectively exploited. If the Mediterranean free-trade zone as planned by the European Union and its partners is to trigger off an impulse conducive to growth, economic and administrative reforms are a top priority on the political agenda. Third, many governments in the region presently face severe social and thus political pressures. Institutional deficiencies are leading to an accumulation of problem-related pressures that could in the end erupt in an uncontrolled discharge. It is for this reason that institutional reform is urgently required. It should give rise to an efficient institutional structure that creates space in which a peaceful political discourse can unfold.