An innovative Master’s programme on the Euro-Mediterranean region designed with the objective of training professionals to become new leaders with a genuine Euro-Mediterranean outlook, fostering integration between Europe and the southern and eastern Mediterranean. It is a programme promoted by the MAEM/MEMA Network of universities and other academic institutions from the whole Euro-Mediterranean area, which have been working together since 2001 with the support of the European Union’s Interreg III B MEDOCC. The course is taught in different cities in which the different organisations belonging to the network are located.

12 – 13 April 2007

This is a multidisciplinary academic seminar which brings together the main researchers working on Turkey in Spain. It is a presentation of studies in the fields of history, domestic policy, foreign relations, economics, energy and migrations.

Working language: Spanish

The United States is a traditional country of immigration. From its beginnings until the present day, it has been the destination of countless migration flows, which have continually changed throughout its history. From the first waves of European immigration to the most recent ones, composed primarily of Latin American nationals, the United States has taken on the profile of a great cauldron of cultures, the popular country of the “melting pot”. Over the past few years, the continuous flows from Latin America have served to open a debate on the current model of integration in the United States, while at the same time highlighting the situation of irregular immigrants living in the country.

Speaker: Ramon Grosfoguel, Lecturer in the Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeleyley.

Presentation by Richard A. Figueroa, Assistant Cultural Attaché, United States Embassy in Madrid.

Syria is a country which, to part of Western public opinion, remains aloof from the political, social and economic changes that have shaken other areas of the planet. This seemed to change when, with the arrival of Bachar el-Assad to power, the term “Damascus Spring” was coined to refer to the country’s timid opening up. Different signs indicate that this period has been buried. This workshop poses a debate on the political and social evolution of contemporary Syria, with special attention placed on the emergence of a civil society, the impact of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership on these processes and the consequences of these changes in the regional situation.

Contributions from: Salam Kawakibi, Syrian political scientist residing in Paris; Helena Oliván, Head of Mediterranean Policies in the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and Eduard Soler, Co-ordinator of the Mediterranean Programme of the CIDOB Foundation.

Working language: French

A debate on the study, La Integración Financiera como Mecanismo de Prevención de Crisis en América Latina y Asia Oriental [Financial Integration as a Crisis Prevention Mechanism in Latin America and East Asia], by Joan Ripoll i Alcón, lecturer in the Department of Economics and Finances at the Escola Universitària del Maresme (EUM). As a proposal for reflection, this text considers the possibility that international financial integration is being set up as a remedy to prevent economic globalisation from leading necessarily to financial vulnerability, transcending the interpretations that consider it only as a cause.

This is a working meeting to debate the theoretical and analytical framework of a project aimed at analysing the processes of political reform in the Arab world – and in some cases the lack thereof. It is the first stage of an initiative that will later culminate in the organising of a seminar and the publication of a study on this. This meeting, in which researchers from different Spanish universities are participating, is directed by Dr. Ferran Izquierdo, a lecturer in International Relations at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and it serves as a point of encounter for setting the parameters of the different case studies on countries. As a result of this exchange, the existence of common elements in the region will be explored, and their evolution will be examined.

Following its presentation at the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the document, Triangulación Asia-España-América Latina: una visión desde la empresa [Asia-Spain-Latin America Triangulation: A View from Business], stemming from research carried out by Jacinto Soler Matutes, director of Soler-Padró / Hispachina Consulting, and promoted by the CIDOB Foundation and Casa Asia, will now be presented in Madrid, under the auspices of PromoMadrid. The act constitutes a new occasion for reflecting on the opportunities offered by the economic internationalisation of Asia and to discover the areas in which the Administration could intervene in order to favour a greater internationalisation of the Spanish economy.

This is a call for articles on Spain’s Arab and Mediterranean policy for issue 79-80 of the CIDOB Journal of Afers Internacionals. The objective of this issue is to analyse the priorities, strategies and effects of Spanish policy toward this region from different perspectives, incorporating a view that includes not only the actions of the central government but also those that are carried out by autonomous regions, the private sector and others. The aim is to contribute an approach that is not limited to the diplomatic arena but also constitutes a study of other fields, such as migration policies, co-operation for development policies and trade-promoting policies.

Conditions for submitting works:

The deadline for submitting abstracts (300 words) accompanied by a short biographical note (100 words) is 24 April 2007. They must be sent to Eduard Soler, the Co-ordinator of the CIDB Foundation’s Mediterranean Programme, whose e-mail address is: mediterraneo@cidob.org

On the 15th of May, the authors will be notified of the outcome of the selection process, and the 15th of September is the deadline for submitting the completed articles (6000-8000 words).

>> Further details on the call for papers

Debate based on the study, Los mecanismos de participación ciudadana en Latin America. El caso de Buenos Aires [Mechanisms of Citizen Participation in Latin America. The Case of Buenos Aires], by Cecilia Schneider, Department of Political and Social Sciences, College of Social Sciences and Communication, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). The author presents an analysis of the implications and dynamics of citizen participation in Latin America since the 1990s, when, fostered by the Porto Alegre initiative, local participatory experiences in public policy have developed, reviewing the case of Buenos Aires in particular.