Mediterranean shipwreck

ASERI is pleased to present the volume

Mediterranean shipwreck
How and why we lost the Mare Nostrum
Michela Mercuri and Paolo Quercia
Ed. Paesi Edizioni

Monday 4 October, 6.30 pm
in ASERI (Via San Vittore 18) and ONLINE

Introduces:
Prof. Vittorio Emanuele Parsi, ASERI Director

Speakers:
Prof. Michela Mercuri, Niccolò Cusano University
Prof. Paolo Quercia, director of GeoTrade - Journal of geopolitics of foreign trade and University of Perugia

Europe and Italy have lost their centrality in the Mediterranean. A geopolitical shipwreck that is the result of a series of dynamics that the Old Continent has been unable to understand or, even less, to dominate: from the distortions of the fight against terrorism after September 11 to the conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon, from the Arab Spring to the conflicts in Syria and Libya, up to the implosion of Sub-Saharan Africa and the uncontrolled migratory pressure. Left to itself, the Mediterranean has become a global sea crossed by proxy wars, in which local crises are only the indicator of a process of redistribution of power.

The authors retrace the events that led to the current delicate situation in the Mediterranean: from the outbreak of the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa and the fall of Gaddafi in Libya, to the increasingly marked centrality of Al-Sisi's Egypt and Erdogan's Turkey, to the migratory flows and human trafficking that cross the Mare Nostrum. The collapse of borders and states in Africa and the Middle East, as was to be expected, has spilled over with increasing force on the resilience of the European continent. A domino effect that ended up isolating Italy. Floating in these waters is no longer enough. In order not to remain on the sidelines, we need a real policy in the Mediterranean and Africa. Because only an Italy that counts in the Mediterranean will be able to count in Europe.

"For some time now, the Mediterranean has ceased to be a meeting point and has turned into a border. A sea in which Italy is trying to navigate between one crisis and another. Chasing emergencies without ever being able to be a protagonist, putting their national interest at risk."

Michela Mercuri, teaches Geopolitics of the Middle East at the Niccolò Cusano University. He taught Contemporary History of Mediterranean Countries at the University of Macerata from 2006 to 2019. He is a member of the Observatory on Fundamentalism and Jihadist Terrorism of the University of Calabria.

Paolo Quercia, is director of GeoTrade - Rivista di geopolitica del commercio estero. He teaches Strategic Studies and Intelligence Systems at the University of Perugia. He has been a consultant to the Ministries of Defense, Economic Development and Foreign Affairs. He is scientific director of the Awos - A World of Sanctions Study Center.

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