This panel explores the current configurations of the MEM region, in particular the Abraham Accords and the new direction of the Biden administration in the region.

2020 will be remembered as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic and the oil price collapse, and one which witnessed all sorts of unexpected turmoil, reaching from the Middle East Mediterranean region to the European suburbs. Fragmentation occurred in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the one hand, the signing of the Abraham Accords, which include the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, Israel, aggregating Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and with an eye on Iraq. On the other hand, the “Brother-Shia axis” brings together Gaza, Qatar, Turkey, and Iran with the ad-hoc support of Russia. During these seismic upheavals, Beirut exploded and refugees and illegal migrants flocked to Europe; the Turkish president, Erdogan, wants to make Istanbul the global centre of Islam. 2021 is the year that has marked the Pope’s visit to Iraq, the resurgence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict described by Professor Kepel as “the eleven-day war”, the worsening of the socio-economic crisis in Lebanon, political instability and lack of governance in Tunisia, the withdrawal of the United States from the region and Afghanistan where the Taliban have regained territory and power. 2021 is also a year of recurrences: ten years have passed since the Arab Spring and the conflict in Syria; twenty years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, which radically shattered international relations. How terrorism has changed during these years and where the Middle East Mediterranean region is going are two complex issues that will be addressed during the MEM Summer Summit 2021.

Analytics tools will be provided to analyse the region’s complexity: current configurations will be put into the context of global history, to stimulate a broad reflection on contemporary challenges. This evolving region has, in fact, a significant impact on international dynamics, on Europe and its political structures.

The key-note speech at the MEM Summer Summit 2020 of French President Emanuel Macron was structured around four pillars, including religion. This panel offers an analysis of the fragmentation and pluralisation of the religious sphere, the individualisation of religion and the controversial relationship between religion and politics in the region. The Abraham Accords and the visit of Pope Francis to the UAE in 2019 and to Iraq in 2021 seem to open a space for interfaith dialogue in the region. Could the encounter between different religions and between different ethno-confessional groups be instrumental in overcoming conflicts? Could the encounter between different religions be a valid means to mend the torn Syrian social fabric? Can it foster greater internal stability that contrasts with growing poverty and halt the massive exodus of young people?

Ports such as Ceuta, Tangier, Djen-Djen, Bizerte, Damietta or Port Said are a new generation in the Mediterranean and will surely change the map of transport and economy in the south of this region. The growth of seaports is not enough to adapt to the accelerated rate of economic growth, but new concepts, such as logistic chains, have to be applied to understand the new relationship between peoples, territories, economies and movement of goods. The oil price collapse of 2020 pushed the oil producers to promote an energetic transition towards more sustainable sources. Furthermore, the emergence of new actors in the Mediterranean region has resulted in new economic, military, and ideological power struggles with a change in the region’s patterns of interstate conflict and cooperation.

This panel is organised in partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Permanent Representation of Switzerland at the United Nations in Rome, in continuity with Transfoodmation project. The MENA food system is becoming increasingly more complex. Climate change, population growth, shifts towards urban living and the adoption of Western diets bring mutually reinforcing challenges. The MEM region has one of the highest rates of population growth worldwide and a rapidly growing urban population, with 66% expected to be living in cities by 2030. Food insecurity is one of the main drivers of unrest and conflicts in the MEM region. In addition to that, water scarcity and climate change are common challenges in the region. “The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit” will seek to engage donors and the international development community to transform food systems such that they are inclusive, sustainable, healthy and resilient, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Conversation between the Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival Giona Nazzaro and the Jordanian Film Director Bassel Ghandour on the importance of co-production in cinema and changing narratives in the region. Bassel Ghandour talks about his film “The Alleys” that was premiered during this year’s edition of the Locarno Film Festival.