Union for the Mediterranean: how realistic an exercise in foresight?

The objective of this paper is to determine the feasibility of binding, politically, economically and culturally, the Mediterranean Sea's southern and northern coasts.

The paper evokes the gains and limitations of such an undertaking.

The paper finds that the initiative may be premature, but a formal relationship should strengthen ties between the new Europe and industrializing portions of North Africa and the western Middle East.

Strong efforts by one European leader to rationalize the relationships of the European Union with nearly two‐dozen Islamic States hold promise politically, economically and perhaps culturally.