The EU and the Middle East: A call for action

The EU urgently needs a more effective and coherent Middle East strategy. With war looming against Iraq and violence escalating between Israelis and Palestinians, the EU is under intense pressure to spell out what it can do to solve these problems. But so far the EU has been mostly a bystander. In this working paper Steven Everts analyses EU policies on Iraq, Israel Palestine and the problem of poor governance in the region. He argues that the EU should become more pro-active and assertive. Rather than react with shock and horror to the latest twist in the Washington debate, the Europeans should set out their own vision.