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News » Politic
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25 April 2011
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 Regional Security Environment: A Greek Outlook |
On April 17, 2011, Dr Thanos Dokos, General Director of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) expressed his views in a session titled "Regional Security Environment in East Mediterranean: a Greek Outlook" which held in Foreign Policy Research Department with the participation of some Iranian experts. During his speech, he addressed the new developments in the East Mediterranean, relations between Iran and Europe in general, and Iran and Greece in particular. Dr Dokos, first, outlined the developments of international system during the 19th and 20th centuries as well as the evolution of the EU. He said that with the emergence of rising powers such as China, Russia, India and Brazil, the scene of international relations has undergone a dramatic change and today multilateralism is the dominant feature in these relations. This situation has been reflected in the East Mediterranean in the form of the more salient role of China and Russia. Also, it should be noted that although the EU has had great achievements regarding economic integration, it has not been successful in adopting a single foreign and security policy and we can say that today there are 27 different foreign policies within the EU.
Then, he referred to recent developments in Arab world and said that today the East Mediterranean region is witnessing the events with domino effect during which people are going to take their destiny in their hands. He noted that the West made a great mistake in supporting authoritarian regime in the region and said that the West should have interaction with Islamic movements in the region. He also spoke of an important development in international law which can prevent atrocities such as genocides in ex – Yugoslavia and Rwanda. This idea which is named "responsibility to protect civilians" has been materialized in Libya during the recent weeks. Meanwhile, Dr Dokos expressed his concerns about the fact that great powers may apply this principle in a selective way. Then while referring to the geographical situation of Greece and its good relations with both sides in Arab-Israeli conflict, he said that with the deterioriation of relations between Turkey and Israel, Greece is in a situation to serve as a mediator between the two sides and to contribute to the settlement of regional crises.
In another part of his speech, Dr Dokos addressed existing difficulties in relations between Iran and the West and specifically Iran's nuclear issue. He said that there are two views in the West regarding this issue. The hardliners believe that Iran's nuclear threat is serious and it should be deterred by plans such as anti-missile defense shield. On the other hand, the realists believe that Iranian leadership has rational behavior and even if it obtains military nuclear capability, it will not use it because of deterrence considerations. Then, he noted that solving regional problems including crises in Iraq and Afghanistan would not be possible without Iran's participation, and said that the two sides should avoid any misconception, and Iran's nuclear dossier should not overshadow cooperation between Iran and the West over the issues of common interests. Along these lines, Dr Dokos put emphasis on a the adoption of "mutual compromise" approach instead of pursuing a "blame game" and also on concatenation on common interests to improve bilateral relations and to exit from the existing dead-end. While referring to old ties between the two ancient nations of Iran and Greece, he maintained that Greece can serve as a bridge between Iran and Europe.
The next speaker of the session was Dr Mohammad Ali Mousavi, Deputy of International Affairs at the University of Tehran. He addressed the current situation in the Arab world and its security implications for the region. He said that given the fact that the most important energy sources of the world are located in this region, its developments are of great importance. While remarking the events going on in the different regional countries, he maintained that each country has its own characteristics and compared the situation in Egypt, Libya and Syria. He said that U.S. and NATO's intervention in Libya does not pursue any clear and specific goal. Dr Mousavi expressed the view that Islamists are the major source of popular resurgence in Arab countries and said ignoring the wish of people by the West is the main reason for insecurity in the region. Dr Mousavi maintained that coming to power of democratic governments in the region provides more security in the region. He introduced Israel as the main loser of recent regional developments, because democratic governments in Arab world which are under the influence of people, no longer support Palestinians' oppression by Israel.
At the end, some participants expressed their views on important issues related to the East Mediterranean region. It was said that NATO's operations are regarded with suspicion in the region. NATO's military intervention in Lybia faced opposition by some NATO members including Germany, Italy and Spain, mainly due to the fact that it is outside of NATO's zone of operation. Also, regarding bilateral relations between Iran and Greece, it was said that if Greece given its financial crisis could obtain the agreement of its European allies, it could benefit from Iran's investment in that country. On the other hand, joint military maneuvers held by Greece and Israel which regarded by Israeli side as preparation for attacking Iran were criticized by Iranian participants and closer relations between Israel and Greece was considered an obstacle for expanding relations between Greece and Iran.
Another point advanced by participants was the failure of the initiative of Union for Mediterranean which put forward by Sarkozy in 2008. The lack of understanding the situation governing the region was considered the main reason for its failure.
Finally, Dr Dokos expressed hope that scientific exchanges between the two research institutes would continue in the future.
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Code : 22271
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