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Making Sense of Europe’s Southern Neighbourhood: Main Geopolitical and Security Parameters

External Publications
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Date de publication
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Références
ARI 10/2017, 30 January 2017, Elcano Institute, Ifri
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Europe’s southern neighbourhood is a diverse but interlinked geopolitical ensemble, whose specificities need to be carefully assessed before Europeans devise dedicated security strategies, divide responsibilities and make policy decisions.

Corps analyses

This exercise in geopolitical scoping seeks to make sense of the main security challenges present in Europe’s broader European neighbourhood, a space encompassing areas as diverse as the Gulf of Guinea, the Sahel, North Africa, the Levant and the Persian Gulf. It identifies (some of) the main sub-regions that make up the ‘South’, offers an overview of the threat environment in each of them and identifies relevant differences as well as common themes. In doing so we aim to provide a conceptual referent for further policy research on the security of Europe’s ‘South’, and to help inform future strategic and policy discussions within the EU, NATO and their Member States.

Published in partnership with the Elcano Royal Institute.

 

 

 

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Making Sense of Europe’s Southern Neighbourhood: Main Geopolitical and Security Parameters

Decoration
Author(s)
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Vivien PERTUSOT

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 A soldier watching a sunset on an armored infantry fighting vehicle
Security Studies Center
Accroche centre

Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.

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The War on Terrorism: Global Experts Reflect on Lessons Learned Twenty-Five Years After 9/11

Date de publication
08 September 2026
Accroche

Twenty-five years ago, the September 11 attacks prompted the invention of new security architectures that shaped the war on terrorism. Sixteen think tank experts from fifteen countries reflect on the successes, failures, and missed opportunities in the fight against terrorism—a fight that is still ongoing.

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From Corsairs to Private Military Contractors. Nonmilitary Maritime Actors and the Historical Continuities of Naval Warfare

Date de publication
26 August 2026
Accroche

Since late 2023, several Houthi attacks on commercial shipping have involved privately contracted armed teams conducting defensive engagements and coordinating immediate response efforts, often in the relative absence of regular naval forces during the immediate hostilities at sea. These cases highlight a strategic tension that increasingly confronts modern navies. On the one hand, they are expected to conduct persistent, low-intensity maritime security tasks such as counterpiracy, maritime policing, and the protection of commercial shipping. On the other hand, they face renewed pressure to prepare for high-intensity conflict against peer and near-peer adversaries amid the return of great power competition.

Pieter ZHAO
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Framework Nation: A European Challenge and French Ambition

Date de publication
10 June 2026
Accroche

First appearing in the early 2000s, the framework nation concept follows several distinct rationales, whether it refers to a country assuming the leadership of a military operation, directing a multinational capability project, or commanding a permanent force structure. In every case, the country that takes on this role fully intends to derive from it additional politico-military influence.

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The Nuanced Relationship Between Public Opinion and Foreign Policy

Date de publication
23 July 2026
Accroche

Public sentiment is something decision-makers must contend with, especially in democratic states. However, the extent to which public opinion shapes foreign policy varies. Three Council of Councils experts in France, India, and Nigeria reflect on how public opinion does—and sometimes does not—affect foreign policy decisions.

How can this study be cited?

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Vivien PERTUSOT, Luis SIMON, « Making Sense of Europe’s Southern Neighbourhood: Main Geopolitical and Security Parameters », External Publications, Ifri, 30 January 2017.
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Making Sense of Europe’s Southern Neighbourhood: Main Geopolitical and Security Parameters