{"title":"The Chinese Maritime Silk Road Initiative: The Role of the Mediterranean","authors":"Mordechai Chaziza","doi":"10.1215/10474552-6898099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-6898099","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most important maritime highways in international trade and a marine traffic hub at the western end of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This essay examines the role of Mediterranean countries in the construction and realization of the Twenty-First Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, one of the BRI's two main components. China's maritime activity in the Mediterranean Sea and its shores consists mainly of constructing and operating ports or railways. The investments in sea-lanes and railways complement each other and jointly open new trade links between China and the Eurasia-Africa zone. However, the implementation of a Maritime Silk Road via the Mediterranean Sea cannot succeed unless there is a way to bridge the gap between economic interests and the capacity to protect those interests.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126186089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Which Left: Detecting the Progressive Identity in Europe in the Midst of a Crisis (Ποια Αριστερα; Aνιχνευοντας την Προοδευτικη Tαυτοτητα στην Ευρωπη της Κρισης) by George Sotirelis (review)","authors":"Akis Kalaitzidis","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397383","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397383","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123835494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Jordan’s Food Security Challenges","authors":"P. Kumaraswamy, Manjari Singh","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397347","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397347","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The ability of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to provide basic food to its citizens and inhabitants and thus ensure food security has been hampered by a host of physiological factors and resource constraints. Some of the periodic social upheavals and violence are linked to the food crisis facing the country, and the traditional notions of self-reliance and self-sufficiency are inadequate solutions. In the Jordanian context, agriculture would not provide food security and, on the contrary, would make the process prohibitive and unsustainable in the long run.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125512784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Turbulent Times in the Eastern Mediterranean: The Struggle for Power","authors":"Evaghoras L. Evaghorou","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397233","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397233","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:In recent years, the eastern Mediterranean has been characterized by instability and intense competition among states and nonstate actors. This is mainly because of the Syrian crisis, the terrorist activity of the Islamic State in Syria, the competition over energy sources, the tensions in Turkey-Israel relations, and the unresolved Cyprus problem. In an attempt to analyze and explain these reasons, the essay concludes with assumptions on how stability and security in the eastern Mediterranean might emerge. This analysis, based on the theoretical background of political realism as a theory of international relations, focuses on the strategy of states involved in the regional developments, as well as on the effects of other nonstate actors.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"71 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115417655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World by Katherine Zoepf (review)","authors":"R. Pope","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397394","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397394","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"27 10","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131860244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe’s Deep Establishment by Yanis Varoufakis (review)","authors":"C. Danopoulos","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397372","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397372","url":null,"abstract":"Yanis Varoufakis — an articulate, Westerneducated economist and a selfprofessed game theory fan — was appointed minister of finance in the first antiausterity, leftwing SYRIZAled government that came to power in Greece in January 2015, following two emergency bailout agreements (also known as “memoranda”) and nearly six years of sharp tax hikes and deep wage and pension cuts imposed by the lenders (the socalled Troika): the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Central Bank, and European Union. Even though Varoufakis’s stint lasted a mere 162 days (January – July 2015), his tenure was nothing short of dramatic, associated with intense and often very public sparring with representatives of Greece’s lenders, threats of Grexit, and the imposition of capital controls. Shortly after leaving the post, Varoufakis promised an account of his tumultuous days at the helm of the country’s economy. And he delivered. Although selfserving, as is the case with nearly all memoirs, Adults in the Room is a firsthand account detailing the suspenseful events, the twist and turns, and the roles and behavior of the key players involved in what is arguably the most dramatic chapter in the sovereign debt saga that has engulfed Greece since 2008. The former minister’s chronicle is based on his recollections, notes he kept during official meetings, conversations with various participants, “corroboration of other witnesses,” as well as “audio recordings that [he] made on [his] phone.” Until the crisis hit, political power in Greece alternated between the centerright New Democracy party and the centerleft Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125776192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Is Refugee Radicalization a Threat to Greece?","authors":"M.-L. Bossis, Nikolaos Lampas","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397325","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Increased refugee flows in Greece have raised concerns in Greek society about the potential threat of refugee radicalization. This essay assesses that potential based on theoretical approaches. It finds that the living conditions in refugee camps as well as negative Greek public opinion elevate the threat of refugee radicalization for Greece. The authors offer policy recommendations to address the phenomenon.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116576131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Whither Inter-Sunni Relations in the Middle East?: Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council","authors":"Nuri Yeşi̇lyurt","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397314","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The essay analyzes relations between Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council since the early 2000s in order to determine whether it is possible to acknowledge the emergence of a Sunni bloc against the so-called Shiite Crescent in the Middle East. It argues that although positive relations among Sunni nations reached a historical peak after 2002, it is impossible to talk about a genuine alliance. Moreover, recent political tensions among Persian Gulf monarchies, and Turkey’s partiality in relation to them, clearly demonstrates that, although Sunni powers give an impression of union at some exceptional moments, disagreements among them are still significant.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122132806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Hydrocarbons Sector in Albania: Short-Term Challenges and Long-Term Opportunities","authors":"T. Vlček, Martin Jirušek","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397358","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397358","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Albania is a small country in the Western Balkans whose role in international politics throughout history has been minor, mainly due to its size, low economic potential, and the legacy of the Stalinist isolationist regime that was in place during the Cold War era. The inclusion of the country and its infrastructure in several gas and oil supply projects in the Balkan Peninsula in recent years, however, has enhanced Albania’s significance. Projected outcomes indicate a fairly poor future for the oil sector but a relatively strong potential for future development of the country’s natural gas sector.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134045501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Immigration and Political Opportunities for Right-Wing Extremism: The Case of Golden Dawn in Greece","authors":"S. Vandoros","doi":"10.1215/10474552-4397336","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397336","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This essay systematically explores the role the immigration issue played in the electoral and overall political power structure of right-wing extremism in Greece as expressed by Golden Dawn. It employs a political-opportunity structure along with a discursive-opportunity structure approach in several instances, with special reference to the so-called refugee crisis during 2015–16. It argues that there is no simple and straightforward connection between immigration and an increase of extremism, and that even sudden and massive immigration flows is not a sufficient condition. Instead, to understand the rise in extremism, long-term, medium-term, and short-term variables must all be considered.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127885899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}