Hybrid Advocacy Coalitions in Mediterranean Digital Transformation: Knowledge Networks, Corporate Actors, and Infrastructure Enablers in EU-MENA relations

This paper builds on the findings of an earlier study I conducted (Expertise in Motion: The Role of Knowledge Networks in Track-Two Advocacy across the Mediterranean) and extends the analysis to emerging policy arenas shaped by the European Union’s digital transformation agenda. Previous work demonstrated the influence of epistemic and advocacy networks – such as UNIMED, IEMed, FEMISE, ALF, and Diplomeds – within Multi-Track Diplomacy and EU external governance. This study adopts the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) (Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith, 1993) and examines how these knowledge-oriented actors interact with hybrid networks such as the ANIMA Investment Network, private-interest Mediterranean digital/infrastructure companies (e.g., AFR-IX Telecom, Sielte, Sirti), and submarine cable projects (e.g., MEDUSA, ATMED) that provide essential connectivity for cross-Mediterranean collaboration. This study addresses two main research questions: 1) How do knowledge networks, hybrid actors, and private-interest companies interact in shaping Euro-Mediterranean digital policies? 2) How do digital infrastructure projects (e.g., submarine cables) enable or mediate these interactions across advocacy, research, and corporate actors? The paper argues that EU–Mediterranean digital cooperation has produced new hybrid advocacy coalitions, where knowledge networks, corporate actors, and civil-society organisations co-produce policy frames and influence agenda-setting. While ANIMA actively collaborates with advocacy networks such as IEMed and FEMISE, private-interest companies primarily operate for commercial purposes, and cable projects enable research and advocacy networks to communicate across the Mediterranean, forming an infrastructural backbone for transnational collaboration. This highlights the blurred boundaries between public-good coalitions, commercial interests, and research/advocacy networks. Using an expanded Social Network Analysis complemented by content analysis and semi-structured interviews, the paper maps these differentiated interaction patterns and assesses their influence on EU policy agendas. Findings contribute to scholarship on EU interest representation by showing how digital transformation reshapes coalition dynamics, multi-level intermediation, and the evolving role of non-state and infrastructure actors in EU-Mediterranean governance. The paper contributes to the ACF literature by showing how advocacy movements can employ policy instruments and infrastructures (such as digital connectors) to pursue public-interest objectives, and how hybrid networks can facilitate bridging advocacy goals with private interests.