"L’Europa vista dal mondo arabo"

Europe viewed from the Arab world. While shortly before the EU Parliamentary elections in June 2004 US president Bush meets European leaders, first, in their countries and, later, at the Sea Island G8 Summit, with the war in Iraq, the isreali-palestinian conflict and democratic reforms for the «Broader Middle East and North Africa» at the top of their agenda, Arabs wonder what they can expect from Europe. Should they consider it a new economic partner within the Mediterranean area or an old rival bearing in mind hegemonic ambitions? Can the EU politically act as a counter-balance to the US superpower rather than being a party to the latter’s leadership of global liberalism and the everlasting state of war it produces? Syrians, in particular, cannot be sure to find EU support in order to face recent US sanctions, as they are still waiting for the signature of the bilateral agreement they concluded last December within the framework of Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. In general, Arab experts and intellectuals analyze the EU-US link as well as Euro-Arab relations, while they express their fears and doubts concerning the possibility of their nations to achieve true democracy and human development in the near future, moreover observing the failure of the Western liberal democratic system made in many ways obvious by the European elections. On the other hand, various new electoral events in Europe, including political parties formed by Arab and Muslim immigrants and a French Euro-Palestine list of candidates, along with popular demonstrations against the occupation of Iraq, give some hopes for peace in the world.