'The Mediterranean and the new Euro-Mediterranean perspectives '  

Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics in Cyprus has succesfully organised the international conference "The Mediterranean and the New Euro-Mediterranean perspectives" to be held on the 9th and 10th October at Holiday Inn in Nicosia.

After the first conference that Daedalos organized in Paris (Sorbonne) on May 31 2008 on “The Union for the Mediterranean: assets and challenges”, under the auspices of the French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, this conference will exploit novel tools for analysing the issue of the political, economic and cultural relations between the European world and the countries of the southern bank of the Mediterranean. The conference takes place right at the moment where new visions and new prospects are provided by the project of the Union for the Mediterranean, whose birth was declared in Paris on July 13, 2008.

This project inaugurates new and promising perspectives. However, it is sine qua non to deeply reflect on the challenges rising from the two sides of the Mediterranean and to visualize the priorities to be designated by the Union for the Mediterranean in the medium as well as in the long term.

With the constructive conference of May 31, 2008 and this one, Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics intends to play its role as a laboratory of ideas. It also intends to contribute to an effort of reflection on a matter as crucial and fundamental as the construction of an area of economic development, intercultural dialogue and peace in the Mediterranean.

DAY 1, OCTOBER 9TH: 14.30-19.30

14.30 Registration of participants

15.00 Opening Ceremony

Welcoming Words: Michalis Attalides, Rector of the University of Nicosia, President of Daedalos Institute for Geopolitics

Opening Addresses:
Markos Kyprianou, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus
Fatma Al-Zahraa, Assistant Minister for European
Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Keynote Lecture: Hesham Youssef, Chief of the Cabinet of the Secretary General, League of Arab States

Session I Politics and Geopolitics

Chair: Joseph Joseph, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Cyprus, Member of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

15.30 “The project of the Union for the Mediterranean: a French perspective”
Thierri Mariani, Member of the French parliament and General delegate for
International Relations UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire)

15.50 “Not enthusiasm, but obligation - Germany's attitude towards EU's Mediterranean Policy”
Udo Steinbach, Professor University Hamburg, Director of German
Institute Middle East Study, Hamburg

16.10 “The enlargement of Europe towards the East and its opening to the South: are they paradoxical or complementary?”
Hassan Abouyoub, Ambassador at large of Morocco

16.30 “Greece and the New Euro-Mediterranean Setting: Shifting Foreign Policy Priorities”
Demetris Ksenakis, Lecturer of International Politics, Department of Political Science, University of Crete, Greece

16.50 Coffee Break

17.10 “The resolution of the political problems of the Mediterranean and the paradigm of the European Union”
Yiorgos Lillikas, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cyprus

17.30 “Israel, Europe and the Mediterranean: identity and policy”
Alexander Yakobson, Senior Lecturer, History Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

17.50 The Union for the Mediterranean: a chance of peace between Israelis and Palestinians
Mohammed Dahalan, Member of the Palestinian parliament, former Minister of the Interior

18.10 “Process of stabilization of Western Balkans and the role of South Eastern Europe”
Radovan Vukadinovic, Professor of International Relations, University of
Zagreb

18.30 “NATO and South Eastern Europe”
Lidija Cehulic, Professor, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb

Discussion

DAY 2, OCTOBER 10TH 09.00 – 18.30

9.00 Opening Remarks: Christodoulos Yiallourides, Professor of International Politics, Panteion University, Athens, member of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

Keynote Lecture: Mohammad Safadi, Minister of Economy & Trade, Lebanon

Session II Economy and Energy

Chair: Christodoulos Yiallourides, Professor of International Politics,
Panteion University, Athens, member of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

09.30 “Prerequisites and proposals for an economic development of the Mediterranean basin”
Andrea Canino, Chairman of the Economic Cooperation Council and the Mediterranean Business Council

09.50 “Regional security: from geo-politics to geo-economics”
Guido Lenzi, Ambassador, Foreign Ministry of Italy

10.10 “The strategy of small states in the era of interdependence”
Elias Kouskouvelis, Professor of International Relations, Rector of the University of Macedonia

10.30 Coffee Break

10.50 “Euro-Arab Interaction in Economy and Energy”
Sotos Zackheos, President of the European-Arab Interactive Forum

11.10 “Existing and Proposed Natural Gas Delivery Systems to Southern Europe”
Garry Lakes, Regional Editor, Middle East Economic Survey (MEES)

11.30 “The significance of credible commitments in Euro-Med Partnership: Evidence from Turkey and beyond”
Ugur Mehmet, Jean Monnet Reader in European Political Economy, University of Greenwich

Discussion

12.30 Lunch break

Session III Culture, Civilization and History

Chair: Anna Papasavva, Project Director of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

14.00 “The Mediterranean in the heart of Europe”
Jean François Mattéi, Emeritus Professor at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis

14.20 “The Mediterranean: praise of diversity”
Chantal Delsol, Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Marne
Vallée, “Professeur des Universités”, Paris

14.40 “Multiculturalism in Cyprus: Historical Reality or political necessity”
Ioannis Ioannou, Professor of French Literature, University of Cyprus

15.00 “The Union for the Mediterranean: between realism and utopia”
Hassen Fodha, Professor of International Law, Center of Diplomatic and Strategic Studies, Paris, former Ambassador at the United Nations, former Regional Director of the UN Centre in Europe

15.20 “The Mediterranean and Europe: interwoven relationships - the historical perspectives”
Ruthy Gertwagen, Professor of history, Haifa University

15.40 Coffee Break

16.00 “The Mediterranean, sea of meeting or sea of border?”
Roberto De Mattei, Professor of Modern History, University of Cassino, Italy

16.20 “The Union for the Mediterranean: open-ended questions”
Andrea Amato, Director of IΜED (Instituto per il Mediterraneo)

16.40 “The future of the Euro-Mediterranean: beyond words”
Sid Ahmed Ghozali, Former Prime Minister of Algeria

17.00 “Will the Union for the Mediterranean be a project of civilisation or not?”
Mezri Haddad, PhD in Political and Moral Philosophy (Sorbonne),
Member of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

Discussion

18.00 Concluding Words: Michalis Attalides, Rector of the University of Nicosia, President of Daedalos Institute for Geopolitics