Security

Securing European Interests from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf: Rethinking EU Strategic Autonomy at Sea

Securing European Interests from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf: Rethinking EU Strategic Autonomy at Sea

This paper aims to assess the concurrent need to secure European interests in the maritime domain vis-à-vis threats originating from the area going from the Mediterranean to the Strait of Hormuz.

 12 February 2024
Latest Publications Events Multimedia

Academic Freedom in Middle East Studies: Precarity, Neutrality and Collective Responsibility

This article reflectes and examines recent shifts in debates on academic freedom, focusing on formalized efforts to address restrictions through Committees on Academic Freedom

 31 August 2026

EU Domestic Politics and the Migration Cleavage: How Electoral Cycles and Political Competition Shape Migration Policies

The lesson of 2025-2026 is that migration governance can no longer be analysed simply as a response to migration. It is, increasingly, also a response to domestic political competition over a durable identity cleavage.

 31 August 2026

Cultural Heritage under Pressure in the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean experience suggests that cultural heritage should be understood not only as an object of preservation but also as a field in which conflict, law, migration, environmental risk and civic cooperation intersect.

 31 August 2026

From Eurovision to the Recognition of Palestine: How Israel Is Fracturing European Consensus

As long as Israel remains a member of the Eurovision Song Contest, inclusion or exclusion of Israel will remain a dividing issue for Europeans.

 13 May 2026
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The Iran War and How the World Sleepwalked into an Energy Crisis

Instead of a short and contained confrontation, the conflict in Iran rapidly evolved into an energy crisis.

 25 March 2026
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The Gulf in the Crossfire: Strategic Consequences of the Iran War

The Gulf states now face a stark and unwelcome choice: deeper integration into a US-led war posture they tried to avoid, or a continued exposure to Iranian coercion.

 16 March 2026

Yemen’s Forgotten Conflict and Security in the Red Sea

In just three decades, the Houthis have evolved from a local militia to the de facto government of northern Yemen. Regional security and, especially, peace in Yemen remain on the very distant horizon.

 1 September 2025

Europe Needs Defence Capabilities More Than New Structures

European allies should negotiate a transition with the United States to gradually take more control of European security through NATO.

 8 July 2025

Autocratization, Sovereignism, and Illiberal Conflict Management: Morocco’s Regional Progress under Trump 2.0

Morocco is hopeful that current EU priorities will translate to increasingly explicit European support for an “illiberal peace” for Western Sahara.

 16 June 2025

Iran’s post-Assad Syria Policy – Challenges and Opportunities

Iran has experienced key strategic setbacks since October 2023 but it is important not to grossly underestimate its ability to retaliate and destabilize the entire Middle East.

 16 June 2025

Oil and the Arab Civil War

AulaMed article by Giacomo Luciani , speaker of the Aula Mediterrània 2024-25 lecture series.

 2 June 2025

The Role of Green Bonds in Enhancing Energy Security in Jordan

This policy brief aims to provide recommendations for the utilisation of green bonds as a financial instrument in enhancing energy security in Jordan.

 5 June 2024