Mediterranean Politics

This section aims at bringing panels/papers about the recent political developments in the Mediterranean together. These developments ranging from the exploitation of the energy resources in the sea to the security competition between several regional/coastal actors, from the migration flows to the emerging identitiy narratives around the sea attracted the attention of media and scholars. In a pessimistic scenario, these developments might escalate to a war between regional actors. In a more optimistic one, the region is moving to the state of a new balance of power which might generate stability. It looks like the Sea is going to be the centre of several rivalries, emerging alliances, clashing national interests and competitive goals in the upcoming years. Directly affected by the ongoing conflicts in Libya and Syria, and by the rivalry among the regional actors especially over the energy resources, conflict the Sea takes various forms and exhibit themselves in differing intensity. Thus, this proposed section will zoom into the current developments in the Mediterranean sea and will investigate the reasons of tensions and their possible implications. In these lines, the section invites authors to discuss the security of/in the Mediterranean Sea by taking different perspectives, theoretical approaches and methods into account. The key points to be discussed will be: * What is the role of energy insecurity in the current developments in the Mediterranean Sea? * Who are the actors involved in the Mediterranean politics and what are their differing narratives about the (in)security in the Sea? * How has the Sea become a site for conflicting narratives and interests? * What is the role of ongoing conflicts and civil wars in Libya and Syria in the emergence of tensions in the Sea? * What is the role of emerging powers and revisionist states in the changing security environment of the Sea? * How do identity narratives play a role in the construction of emerging and/or competitive coalitions? * What is the role of new geopolitical and geostrategic landscape in the region in the rising tensions?