European Student Think Tank

When we talk about the weak pro­gress of demo­cracy, the first place that comes to our mind is undoubtedly Middle East. What are the reas­ons that make the Middle East the castle of author­it­arian gov­ern­ments? The debates on the reas­ons of this demo­cracy defi­cit have focused on espe­cially reli­gion, eco­nomy and social struc­ture. There­fore, in this art­icle, I will try explain the dra­matic situ­ation in the Middle East and then advance my argu­ment about the future of this region.

The dis­turb­ances in the Middle-East and North Africa have now truly reached Europe. The past week­end, Italy star­ted dis­trib­ut­ing human­it­arian visas to refugees from Tunisia, who had star­ted arriv­ing at the small Italian island of Lampedusa after the revolt in their home coun­try. Around 25.000 visas will be handed out, which gives them full travel pos­sib­il­it­ies through­out Europe. What will be the impact on the other mem­ber states?

A few days ago, Italy expressed the wish to sta­tion police officers of their own at the Tunisian shore. The reason is quite simple: a massive inflow of migrants fled Tunisia and arrived at the small island of Lampedusa. Res­ult: tur­moil on the islet. The Italian pro­posal to com­bat this tur­moil might seem a bit strange at a first glance, but isn’t entirely new. Below you’ll find an explanation.