Europe Must Reclaim the Mediterranean
February 10, 2011 | From theTrumpet.com
For Europe, preventing radical Islam from gaining a foothold in North Africa and the Middle East is a matter of survival.
In the world of geopolitics, the map is a prophetic instrument.
Consider the political upheavals in Egypt and the inevitable emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo’s new government. More broadly, consider radical Islam’s growing presence and influence in places like Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Pakistan. As extremist Islamic forces gain footholds in these countries, will they provoke transformations beyond the Middle East and North Africa? If so, where?
For the answers, we need only study a world map.
What quickly becomes apparent is radical Islam’s rise as a potent and controlling force in the southern and eastern Mediterranean. And who, outside that theater, does this trend threaten more than any other region? In virtually every conceivable way—politically, economically, strategically, demographically, culturally—it threatens Europe!
In an article aptly titled “If This Is Young Arabs’ 1989, Europe Must Be Ready With a Bold Response,” the Guardian’s Timothy Garton Ash warned last week that if violent, anti-Western Islamic forces gain the upper hand in Egypt and throughout North Africa, “producing so many new Irans,” then “heaven help us all” (emphasis mine throughout). The stakes in the Mediterranean could hardly be higher for Europe, Ash stated: “If that does not add up to a vital European interest, I don’t know what does.”
Shamefully, few commentators beyond Mr. Ash have analyzed the rise of radical Islam in Egypt, Tunisia and throughout the Arab world in this context. Some of Europe’s leaders, on the other hand, know precisely what is at stake. Last Friday, for example, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, in an article that warranted more attention than it received, warned it was time for
Europe to think “geopolitically, not just fiscally, about the Mediterranean.”
In a glimpse of how European elites are digesting events in Egypt, Fischer warned that “what the European Union is facing in the Mediterranean region isn’t primarily a currency problem; first and foremost, it is a strategic problem—one that requires finding solutions urgently.”
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Description: Map of radical Islam and Europe’s strategic assets
In other words, the possibility of losing southern and eastern Mediterranean countries to radical Islam is a greater problem than even the eurozone crisis!
To understand Fischer’s alarm, a person need only consider a map of the Mediterranean Sea in light of radical Islam’s growing footprint in Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and throughout much of North Africa and the Middle East.
One of Europe’s most important strategic assets is the Strait of Gibraltar. Situated on Spain’s southern tip, dividing Europe from Africa, the sea-lane is the western gateway into the Mediterranean Sea. Each year more than 80,000 vessels, many carrying goods to and from the shores of Europe’s largest economies, particularly Spain, Italy and Greece, transit the maritime gateway. The Port of Gibraltar is a deep-water port, one of the busiest and most important in Europe.
From Gibraltar, one can peer across less than 15 miles of ocean and see Morocco, a bustling nation of 31 million, 96 percent of whom are Muslim. Morocco’s government and populace is relatively stable, but experts say Islamic terrorist organizations in recent years have taken root in the country. Some have joined forces with drug cartels smuggling their wares into Europe. Others are actively working to overthrow the Moroccan government.
Moreover, neighboring Algeria has emerged as a terrorist mecca. According to former cia official and counterterrorism expert Charles Allen, al Qaeda is using Algeria as a breeding ground. Al Qaeda “functions as an umbrella organization for a disparate collection of Sunni Muslim terrorist elements determined to attack what they see as apostate regimes in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania and Morocco,” he said. Another expert said the region is emerging as al Qaeda’s next Afghanistan.
For Europe, the rising dominance of radical Islam in territory adjacent to its most crucial sea-lane amounts to a major strategic threat!
Roughly 1,000 miles east of Morocco is Tunisia. We’re told that this country, after the recent ousting of its authoritarian president, is embracing the democratic election of a new government. No one knows what this government will look like, but experts expect Islamist political parties will emerge with considerable influence. The leading Islamist party, Ennahdha—known for its anti-Western, extremist roots—is expected to gain significant power.
For Europe, Tunisia is immensely important. The shores of Sicily are less than 150 miles away, and the region has historically been a staging ground for armies seeking to invade Europe via the Italian peninsula.
For Europe, the emergence in Tunisia of a government that identifies with radical Islam—and possibly condones its ambitions for an Islamic caliphate—is a strategic threat!
Then there’s the Suez Canal, which bisects Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Each day, 2 to 3 million barrels of oil and fuel products pass through the canal and the energy pipelines that transit the Suez desert, which is controlled by Egypt. About two thirds of that energy ends up in Europe, where it accounts for 5 to 7 percent of the continent’s oil consumption. As Joel Hilliker highlighted last week, if the Muslim Brotherhood gains the levers of power in Cairo, it will be able to shut down the Suez, halting the flow of oil and goods.
For Europe, the transition of the Suez Canal into the hands of radical Islam would be a strategic and financial catastrophe!
Beyond Egypt, radical Islam is making its presence felt in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen. Except for Ethiopia, each of these countries is adjacent to the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden, the vital sea-lanes connecting the Arabian Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, connecting Asia with Europe. Beyond their role as maritime highways, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden contain vital ports from which oil is shipped to the world.
For Europe, the possibility of the Red Sea falling under the influence of radical Islam is a strategic and economic nightmare!
Another sliver of territory of extreme importance to Europe is the Dardanelle Strait and the Sea of Marmara, both of which connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Historically, these have generally marked the line between Europe and the Middle East. Today, these vital sea-lanes are controlled by Turkey. Since World War i this nation has been a secular state nurturing warm relations with the West, especially Europe. For Europe, as long as Turkey remained a secular, pro-Western state, there was no need to worry about the vital sea-lanes.
In the last couple of years, however, Turkey has given Europe cause for concern. Hardline Islamist forces have gained greater influence, both politically and religiously. More worryingly, Istanbul seems to be losing interest in sustaining rosy relations with the West, including Europe; it is showing an ominous tendency to prioritize relations with its Muslim neighbors, particularly Iran. Just this week Turkey and Iran furthered their diplomatic and political alignment, concluding agreements that will triple bilateral trade between the two states.
For Europe, the thought of Iran’s mullahs exploiting relations with Turkey to meddle in the Dardanelles and the Black Sea is deeply alarming!
Truly, when you look at the map and track the rise of radical Islam, it’s difficult to exaggerate just how much is at stake for Europe in the Mediterranean. Historically, the Mediterranean Sea belongs to Europe. Strategically, the Straits of Gibraltar, the coast of Tunisia, the Suez Canal and Red Sea, the Dardanelles and the island of Cyprus are absolutely vital to Europe’s national security.
In the last two months, it has become obvious that radical Islam—a vehemently anti-Western, intensely violent, aggressive and uncompromising force—is engaged in a campaign to take control of Europe’s southern flank. Iran is at the vanguard of this uprising.
As reality sinks in, Europe is realizing: Inaction is not an option!
This explains why Joshcka Fischer is imploring Europe to seriously engage governments in North Africa and the Middle East that have yet to come under the influence of radical Islamic forces.
“European officials in Brussels and the major European Union governments should not go for political and economic half-measures when it comes to the Mediterranean states,” he wrote. In the time ahead, the EU will likely heed Fischer’s advice and engage more directly in North Africa and the Middle East. It has too much at stake to do nothing!
More significantly, the rise of radical Islam in the Mediterranean Sea—the region Winston Churchill termed Europe’s soft underbelly—will serve as a powerful impetus for Europe to continue to forge itself into a streamlined and dominant political, economic and military superstate. Be assured, events in Egypt are serving to assure Europe that if it wants to survive as a unified power—if it wants continued access to energy and resources from Africa and the Middle East—if it wants to stop radical Islam’s war on Christians—if it wants to purge the Islamic extremists from the Continent—then it must develop the political and military might to confront Iran and its radical Islamic proxies.
Watch Europe closely. It knows the window of opportunity to tackle radical Islam’s mounting armies is closing. It is about to reclaim the Mediterranean! •
