European Union and Mediterranean:
Historical, Cultural, Political, Economic and Social Bases
MASTER ON-LINE
COMPLUTENSE
UNIVERSITY OF MADRID





Learning Module

5.0
EuroMed:  I. Historical, Cultural and Social Bases                     

Academic Coordinator

Prof. Emilio Lamo de Espinosa | Complutense University of Madrid


Abstract

History of mankind shows that if seas separate they also unite. The Mediterranean has been a unity at least from the beginning of Ancient Empires and certainly was unified by Rome in both directions: North / South and East / West. The division of the Roman Empire produced a first split East / West, that continues under the skin of Catholic / Orthodox religion. Later Islam produced another split, North /South, that continues too hiding deeper socio-economic differences. Today the economic split between Spain and Morocco, about 1 to 12 in per capita GDP is one of the greatest in the world. 

Course Objectives


Three main goals:
- To show the Mediterranean as the source of Western Civilization.
- To show the essencial cultural and social unity of the Mediterranean.
- To show the present splits and conflicts.


Programmatic Contents


01. From Early Times to Rome
02. Rome's partition and Islamic conquests
03. The Ottoman Empire; Trade and transfers in the Mediterranean
04. The present split; the EU and the Arab League
05. Overcoming the split:
      The Barcelona Process, the Good Neighborhood Policy and the New Mediterranean Union
06. Demography, urbanization and growth North and South. The role of EU's CAP
07. Oil and development. Failed States, Rogue States and Petro-States
08. Migration in the Mediterranean. ¿A new conquest? Fears and anxieties
09. Islamic  fundamentalists. ¿islamo-fascism?
 

Teaching Units
»»»

5.1
The Mediterranean as a historical unity. From Roman unification of the Mare Nostrum to the present split
5.2
Christianity and Islam. Confrontation and / or cooperation. The Mediterranean as frontier and as bridge
5.3
The North-South divide. The EU, oil, migration and poverty around the Mediterranean






European Higher Education Area
| ES
Complutense University of Madrid · Research Team THEORIA


Der Zeit ihre Kunst,
der Kunst ihre Freiheit