The theme of regionalism lends coherence to the history of contemporary international relations, since it draws our attention to a specific pattern of interaction and oscillation between actors in the international system. Since the end of the Cold War, regionalism has been carried forward by the most powerful states as a means of promoting their own interests. Governments have recognised that regionalism is an effective political tool that can assist in the management of domestic and external pressures.

In emphasising the significance of international regions as an intermediate level of analysis between the nation-state and the global international system, this research study seeks to assist in identifying the changes taking place in Euro-Mediterranean international relations at the start of the twenty-first century and the potential for future cooperation in the Mediterranean basin. For more than six years following the Barcelona Declaration, both sides of the Mediterranean have been pursuing “regional cooperation” in a rather uncritical fashion. But real progress towards a Mediterranean regional arrangement remains limited. The possibility of creating a more integrated Euro-Mediterranean region is possible, but only if efforts and resources are invested in more promising directions.