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Mediterranean Geopolitics: Power Struggles, Critical Infrastructures, and International Cooperation

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6 hour course by Eduard Soler, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona - IBEI

  • Schedule: 1 July (17:30-19:30), 3 July (13:30-15:30) & 4 July (08:30-10:30)
  • Venue: IBEI

We are witnessing a resurgence of geopolitics in the discourse and actions of major powers. Geopolitical thinking assumes that geographical factors should influence political decisions; in practice, this often translates into efforts to control strategic territories and natural resources. The Mediterranean, strategically situated at the intersection of Europe, Asia, and Africa, connects the Atlantic and Indian Oceans through the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, making it a critical region already experiencing the effects of this geopolitical comeback. This course begins by analysing the implications of global power shifts in the Mediterranean, drawing on other decisive historical moments of similar power transitions and examining their impact on the region. The second session focuses on key strategic locations, such as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Turkish Straits, and the Suez Canal, and explores how the global race for infrastructure is playing out in the Mediterranean, involving both Western and non-Western powers. Finally, the third session reflects on the consequences of these dynamics for Euro-Mediterranean relations and examines the conditions under which geographical factors can foster cooperation rather than competition or conflict.

  • Eduard Soler_Summer Med 2025

Eduard Soler
Lecturer of International Relations at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Associate Senior Researcher at CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs), and Affiliated Faculty member at IBEI.

Eduard Soler holds a PhD in International Relations and Graduate in Political Science. His main areas of expertise are geopolitics, foresight, foreign policy, Turkey and the Middle East and North Africa region. He has a long experience participating and leading collaborative research and training projects such as MENARA, a CIDOB-led H2020 project on geopolitics of the Middle East and North Africa that involved 14 partners and around 50 researchers; and El Hiwar (2013-2022), a Euro-Arab diplomacy training project implemented by the College of Europe (Bruges). In 2010 he was seconded as an advisor in the Mediterranean Unit of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was actively involved in the preparation and implementation of Mediterranean initiatives under the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. He is also an adjunct professor at IBEI and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), teaching on Mediterranean and Middle East International Relations, among other issues. He is a member of the Observatory of European Foreign Policy and is part the international advisory boards of Mediterranean Politics, IEMed's Mediterranean Yearbook and the Berlin-based Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP).