What Do the Tensions in the Maghreb Mean for Europe?

Luis Martinez (1)

1 CERI - Centre de recherches internationales (Sciences Po, CNRS)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brutally plunged Europe into the spectre of war returning to the continent. The destruction of cities and the migration of millions of civilians have brought back the dramatic past of the Second World War. In the face of such tragedies, the war against terrorism in the Sahel or the tensions in the Maghreb appear, wrongly, to be relegated to regional problems. Until 24 February 2022, however, the intractable war in Libya, the tensions between Algeria and Morocco and the institutional crisis in Tunisia caused concern in Europe. Indeed, ten years after the euphoria of the Arab revolts and the dashed hopes of a democratic transition, the Maghreb countries are confronted with internal and regional political problems that are paralyzing a region with 130 million inhabitants (the Arab Maghreb Union – AMU) but whose regional GDP (320 billion) does not exceed that of Egypt (360 billion).

Keywords: Maghreb; regional political problems; Europe

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Political science

Luis Martinez. What Do the Tensions in the Maghreb Mean for Europe?. European Institute of the Mediterranean. IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook 2022, European Institute of the Mediterranean, pp.111-114, 2022, 9771698306002. ⟨hal-03850891⟩