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First edition 2006, second edition 2009 by: British Council CIDOB Foundation Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània © British Council Translator: Gordon Burt Copy Editing: Iván Martín & Richard Gillespie Cover Design: Baética Publishing-production: CIDOB edicions C/ Elisabets, 12, 08001 Barcelona T. 933 026 495 F. 933 022 118 [email protected] www.cidob.org ISBN: 978-84-92511-08-2 D.L.: Print: Color Marfil, S.L. Barcelona, March 2009 Acknowledgements We would like to thank all those people and institutions who have supported the publishing of this book. Individuals whose contribution has been particularly significant are of course the conference directors and main authors, Richard Gillespie and Iván Martín and those who have authored the various contributions to the publication (Chris Hickey, Narcís Serra, Senen Florensa, Pedro Martínez Montávez, Miguel Hernando de Larramendi, Bárbara Azaola, Emma Murphy, Michelle Pace, Fiona McCallum, José Antonio Macías, Laura Rodríguez, Eduard Soler i Lecha and Sarah Wolff ), as well as those who have helped with the drafting and provided editorial advice at various stages (Iván Martín, Richard Gillespie, Gemma Aubarell, Eduard Soler i Lecha, Mariló Bellido and Bet Mañé). Disclaimer This publication contains lists of researchers, institutions and courses compiled as a aid for future research and to promote collaboration among researchers. The British Council, Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània and the CIDOB Foundation are not responsible for the contents of any external website referred to in this publication. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 7 Chris Hickey PROLOGUE 11 Narcís Serra WHY RESEARCH THE MEDITERRANEAN TODAY? 15 Senén Florensa ARTICLES 21 Richard Gillespie and Iván Martín The Encuentro as a Model for Researchers on the Mediterranean and the Middle East .............................................23 Pedro Martínez Montávez Mediterranean: Surprise, diversity and a culture of solidarity................31 Emma Murphy and Michelle Pace The status of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies in the United Kingdom..................................................................43 Miguel Hernando de Larramendi and Bárbara Azaola Studies of the Contemporary Arab World and the Mediterranean in Spain ................................................................85 Fiona McCallum, José Antonio Macías, Laura Rodríguez, Eduard Soler i Lecha and Sarah Wolff Problems and perspectives of the new generation of researchers on the Arab World and Mediterranean in Spain and the United Kingdom............................................................145 Richard Gillespie and Iván Martín Researching the Mediterranean and the Arab World in the UK, Spain and Europe: present challenges and future initiatives................151 APPENDICES 177 Programme of the Encuentro...................................................................179 List of Participants.....................................................................................181 • INTRODUCTION • 7 INTRODUCTION Chris Hickey Director British Council, España t is an honour for me to present this publication based on the Encuentro between British and Spanish specialists on the Mediterranean and the I Middle East, which took place in March 2006, and was organised by the British Council in collaboration with the Universidad Autónoma of Barcelona, IEMed and the CIDOB Foundation. This Encuentro established a first point of contact between researchers from the UK and Spain, provided analysis of the state of studies on the Mediterranean and the Middle East in their respective countries, explored areas of shared interest and identified possible projects for future collaboration. The results go beyond the event itself, since it has given rise to a series of concrete proposals, designed to strengthen research on the Mediterranean and the Middle East, not only in the UK and Spain but throughout Europe and the Euro-Mediterranean area. The publication includes two reports that were commissioned for the Encuentro, on the situation of Mediterranean/Arab World studies in the UK and Spain. It is hoped that these reports will act as both a basis for future reinforcement as well as providing a synthesis of the debates that took place on questions such as the research agenda, interaction with the media and political institutions and the perspectives of new generations of researchers, who enjoyed ample representation at the Encuentro. This volume is the second of Researching The Mediterranean which I’m delighted to say has become a valued reference point for scholar, research centres, universities and social entities that focus on the relationship between Europe and the Mediterranean. We have received very positive feedback about the original publication and I’m pleased to say that it has helped inform thinking on our own Intercultural Dialogue project work which focuses on the area of building trust and understanding between cultures. The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We build engagement and trust for the UK trough the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide. • 9 PROLOGUE • 11 PROLOGUE Narcís Serra President of the CIDOB Foundation meeting was held in March 2006 in Barcelona of British and Spanish researchers focusing on Mediterranean and Arab World A studies, organised by the British Council with the collaboration of the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, the European Mediterranean Institute (IEMed) and the CIDOB Foundation’s Mediterranean Programme. Given the quality of the studies, lectures and discussions at the encounter, the three institutions have decided to go ahead with this publication. The CIDOB Foundation believes that exchange between Spanish and British academics (as well as with other EU researchers) must be consolidated if Europe is to aspire to quality research standards. It is our hope that this Spanish-British Encounter will contribute as far as possible to the aim of combining forces and enhancing contacts between countries which have already established a critical research mass. From the Spanish standpoint but also from that of the United Kingdom and the EU, the Mediterranean and the Arab World must be central to all our political and research agendas. The Mediterranean has been a leading priority for Spanish foreign policy, not just because of the historic links between the two shores but also as a consequence of their increasing interdependence. What we must in fact ask is to what point events in Morocco, Algeria or the Middle East are strictly questions of international policy or whether it is yet again becoming clear that the frontier between domestic and international matters is tending to blur. Developments such as the situation in Iraq or in the Palestinian territories, or the Israel-Lebanon crisis make it clear that the whole world closely monitors events in the Mediterranean and the Arab World. These phenomena may in turn have repercussions in other parts of the globe and even in neighbourhoods in many European cities. It should be expected that the centrality of the Mediterranean and the Arab World in international relations would translate into a thorough and detailed European understanding of this region. There is however on our continent insufficient knowledge of the region’s languages, such as Arabic, Tamashek1, Hebrew, Turkish or Farsi, plus an often simplistic perception of its political, economic and social processes. 1. Tamashek is a Bereber language used mainly among the Tuareg community • 13 Research has to be enhanced if these factors are to be remedied, with the promotion of fieldwork and language-training, and encouraging the creation of cross-border networks among universities and programmes allowing for student and teacher exchanges. This must all enable us to better understand phenomena such as the rise of political Islam, the development of the pan-African migration routes, the influence of media like Al Jazeera o Al Arabiya, social changes in Iran, the likely impact of Turkish EU membership on its surroundings, and many other aspects we do not grasp in their entire complexity. Encounters such as the one in Barcelona must enable our researchers to build bridges with other universities, forge personal contacts with other researchers, exchange experiences and see how research agendas can differ and yet be complementary. Thus, step-by-step, European research in the Mediterranean and the Arab World will become more comprehensive, more powerful and have more impact. 14 PROLOGUE • WHY RESEARCH THE MEDITERRANEAN? • 15 WHY RESEARCH THE MEDITERRANEAN? Senén Florensa Director General, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) ecause of the academic world's differing approaches to the Mediterranean region, each world view has until now determined B the way in which it is studied and understood. This diversity of starting points has fragmented academic specialists among those studying North Africa, the Maghreb, the Mashrek, the Middle East or the Near East into Orientalists, Arabists, and an infinity of labels conceived according to a geographical or subjective vision in which, even in this sense, they have not coincided. I am however increasingly convinced that this logic is being superseded and, beyond these fragmenting labels, new integration perspectives and new views are emerging, making it possible to conceive the future of a genuine Euro-Mediterranean partnership through the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean.

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