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RETURN OF MEDITERRANEAN REGION
Igor Muradyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/politics25661.html
Published: 12:33:56 - 02/04/2012
The history of the Mediterranean is the history of mankind but
after the cold war the growing importance of Asia Pacific and other
geopolitical regions seemed that the Mediterranean Sea which has
become NATO's lake is doomed to lack of conflict. However, new
scenarios and controversies occurred which led to focus on this region.
It should be noted that the efforts of France and Great Britain to
form a new area of influence in the Mediterranean did not get an
appropriate support from the European Union and first of all Central
Europe - Germany and others. There are signs that the United States is
not satisfied with the establishment of the French-British military
alliance though cooperation within the framework of NATO is being
strengthened.
Despite solidarity there are controversies between the United States
and leading European states on a number of problems, including the
given region. Certainly, these are controversies between partners,
and they do not bring confrontation into the relations but in the
course of time serious issues may occur.
Russia's influence is extremely weak now, and it is clinging to its
last bastion in Syria, which is related to efforts to restore its
presence in the Near East rather than its navy base.
The Arab states who demonstrate a great solidarity with the United
States rather than among one another are facing a number of challenges
from Israel, Iran and Turkey and are trying to ensure guarantees
of security from the United States, and now, already in the first
approximation, from NATO.
However, a more serious challenge is Turkey's regional expansion
which is facing a choice - either return under the U.S. control or
continued efforts to increase its influence in the Near East. The
processes and developments in the western Mediterranean saliently
demonstrate controversies between Turkey and the United States which,
apart from efforts to improve relations with Turkey, carry on the
policy of curbing the Turkish expansion.
The April 1 issue of the Haaretz reported that the naval exercise
Noble Dina is held in Western Mediterranean which has come to replace
the annual Reliant Mermaid exercise held together with Turkey till
2009. The newspaper states that the enemy in this simulation is a
reference to Turkey. The training will hardly have the single purpose
of strengthening Greece and Israel. Most probably, the purpose is
wider and aims to block Turkey in the region.
The western part of the Mediterranean basin is becoming a zone
of disputes over discovered and reliable reserves of oil and gas,
turning this region into a "Persian Gulf". However, Turkey mainly
makes claims which cannot afford to miss such a great opportunity. It
should be noted that the oil and gas prognoses do not only cover the
offshore area but also the Ionian Sea, mostly the Greek coasts.
The political and analytical literature uses quite reserved evaluations
of the U.S.-Turkish relations while the mass media are full of messages
on examples of the U.S.-Turkish relations.
Nevertheless, the problems of the U.S.-Turkish relations persist,
both in the Near East and the Black Sea and Mediterranean basin which
are closely related to the Near East but increasingly act as regions
with specific and "independent" problems.
From: Baghdasarian
Igor Muradyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/politics25661.html
Published: 12:33:56 - 02/04/2012
The history of the Mediterranean is the history of mankind but
after the cold war the growing importance of Asia Pacific and other
geopolitical regions seemed that the Mediterranean Sea which has
become NATO's lake is doomed to lack of conflict. However, new
scenarios and controversies occurred which led to focus on this region.
It should be noted that the efforts of France and Great Britain to
form a new area of influence in the Mediterranean did not get an
appropriate support from the European Union and first of all Central
Europe - Germany and others. There are signs that the United States is
not satisfied with the establishment of the French-British military
alliance though cooperation within the framework of NATO is being
strengthened.
Despite solidarity there are controversies between the United States
and leading European states on a number of problems, including the
given region. Certainly, these are controversies between partners,
and they do not bring confrontation into the relations but in the
course of time serious issues may occur.
Russia's influence is extremely weak now, and it is clinging to its
last bastion in Syria, which is related to efforts to restore its
presence in the Near East rather than its navy base.
The Arab states who demonstrate a great solidarity with the United
States rather than among one another are facing a number of challenges
from Israel, Iran and Turkey and are trying to ensure guarantees
of security from the United States, and now, already in the first
approximation, from NATO.
However, a more serious challenge is Turkey's regional expansion
which is facing a choice - either return under the U.S. control or
continued efforts to increase its influence in the Near East. The
processes and developments in the western Mediterranean saliently
demonstrate controversies between Turkey and the United States which,
apart from efforts to improve relations with Turkey, carry on the
policy of curbing the Turkish expansion.
The April 1 issue of the Haaretz reported that the naval exercise
Noble Dina is held in Western Mediterranean which has come to replace
the annual Reliant Mermaid exercise held together with Turkey till
2009. The newspaper states that the enemy in this simulation is a
reference to Turkey. The training will hardly have the single purpose
of strengthening Greece and Israel. Most probably, the purpose is
wider and aims to block Turkey in the region.
The western part of the Mediterranean basin is becoming a zone
of disputes over discovered and reliable reserves of oil and gas,
turning this region into a "Persian Gulf". However, Turkey mainly
makes claims which cannot afford to miss such a great opportunity. It
should be noted that the oil and gas prognoses do not only cover the
offshore area but also the Ionian Sea, mostly the Greek coasts.
The political and analytical literature uses quite reserved evaluations
of the U.S.-Turkish relations while the mass media are full of messages
on examples of the U.S.-Turkish relations.
Nevertheless, the problems of the U.S.-Turkish relations persist,
both in the Near East and the Black Sea and Mediterranean basin which
are closely related to the Near East but increasingly act as regions
with specific and "independent" problems.
From: Baghdasarian