The Changing Security Situation in Maghreb May 'Refresh' the Euro-Maghrebian Relations

PRAGUE, April 21, 2011 - The Maghreb region currently faces a distinctive combination
of security threats - socio-political transformation sparked by the recent
wave of pro-democratic movements, the frozen border disputes and territorial
conflicts which seriously undermine all efforts at regional integration. This
changing security situation in the Maghreb is analyzed by an international
expert team lead by Dr. Daniel Novotny in a newly released research paper
entitled 'The Changing Security Situation in the Maghreb'.

According to the research paper, a reconsidered and
tailor-made European approach to the Maghreb region would foster its
stability and support mutual prosperity. It argues that, in light of the
growing instability in Northern Africa and also many shared interests, the EU
should take a greater interest in the Maghreb and place its relations with
this region at the top of its agenda.

The bottom-up nature of the pro-democratic protests should
induce the EU to rebuild its approach to the Maghreb to henceforth focus more
on the complex human security. The research paper also calls upon the Central
and Eastern European countries to launch an "experience sharing process" with
the Maghrebian countries because they could provide a useful model for the
democratic transition in this region.

The paper also raises the question of Western Sahara when it
argues that finding the final solution to this long-drawn-out dispute between
Morocco and Algeria would be a major boost for the stability and security in
the Maghreb. The 2007 Moroccan autonomy initiative for the Western Sahara
region, recently elaborated in a speech by Morocco's King Mohammed VI, could
be seen as a credible alternative to the continuing deadlock.

The research paper 'The Changing Security Situation in the
Maghreb' provides a unique and complex analysis of the recent situation in
the Maghreb region from the European perspective. The full version of the
research paper published by the Association for International Affairs is
available at:

www.amo.cz/download.php?group=produkty1_soubory&id=365

The Association for International Affairs is a non-governmental
organization, an independent think-tank, founded to promote research and
education in the field of international relations. It creates a unique forum
for expression, exchange and realization of ideas and projects to contribute
to the general education, understanding and tolerance.

    Contact:

    Daniel Novotny
    Association for International Affairs Prague
    Zitna 27, 110 00 Prague 1
    Czech Republic
    e-mail: daniel.novotny@amo.cz
    Tel/Fax: +420-224-813-460
    www.amo.cz

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