The Mediterranean is both a contested military theater and one of the world’s most important commercial and infrastructure corridors. Russia has extended military and logistics networks from the Eastern Mediterranean into Libya and Africa, China has expanded its commercial port and logistics footprint, Turkey has emerged as an increasingly consequential naval actor, and NATO allies are reassessing the requirements of the alliance’s southern flank. At the same time, the ports, subsea cables, energy pipelines, and shipping routes linking Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and global markets face a growing range of risks including sabotage, cyberattacks, shadow-fleet activity, and conflict spillover.
This event will launch a new report by MEI Senior Fellows Iulia Joja and Intissar Fakir examining these trends and what they mean for US, European, and Mediterranean security.
Speaker Biographies
Panel I: This panel will examine naval competition, freedom of navigation, military access and basing, control of strategic ports and logistics networks, and the evolving roles of the United States, NATO, Turkey, the European Union, and North African states.
Josh Tallis
Research Program Director, CNA Corporation
Anna Borshchevskaya
Harold Grinspoon Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Iulia Joja (Moderator)
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
Panel II: This panel will consider how governments and international organizations can better protect critical maritime infrastructure, strengthen resilience of commercial and energy corridors, and address security threats through more effective coordination within existing mechanisms.
Jim Townsend
Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security
Giuseppe Sernia
Program Officer, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Intissar Fakir (Moderator)
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
