In what ways and to what extent have the EU’s core interests in the Maghreb changed as a result of the Arab Spring?
Introduction
The union of the Arab Maghreb, also known as Arab Maghreb Union was established in the year 1989 with its founding members including Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and Mauritania. Due to closer relationships among these countries, there was an agreement which lead to the signing of the Treaty of Marrakesh which was aimed at increasing the welfare of the native citizens of these founder countries. The treaty had a main goal of assisting in the ending of the book famine which was faced by the people who were visually impaired, including the blind and the disabled as well. The treaty required the member countries to have an exemption to the domestic patent law to govern the visually impaired and the print disabled people. These groups where therefore entitled to the rights of education as a call was made to produce more books for them after the patent rights had been granted. In order to support their ties and ensure that the agreements made in the treaties where effective, the European Union (EU) chipped in so as to strengthen their integration and ensure that the core objective goals formulated by these North African countries where achieved.
The European Union is a political and economic amalgamation of European countries whose members are primarily in Europe. It was founded with the main objective of fostering unity and a common bargaining power in the European countries, as a tool of fighting for a common objective. Since its formation, it has been formulating common laws which holds in all he member states and which are stipulated well in their constitution. The EU constitution is robust and not subject to alteration by any single member. There was a bilateral agreement between the European Union and the Maghreb countries whereby the EU decided to uplift the affairs of these countries by supporting their missions but at the same times benefiting from the unions. It was clear that the Maghreb countries which occupies the northern parts of Africa was well endowed with natural resourced and a vast growth in trade due to its location; being located in peripheral to the Indian Ocean which could contribute immensely to the growth of the EU countries if well tapped. These agreements were signed in the year 1969 and by then, France was the main source of funds for the cooperation as it was the first European nation to develop an interest in the Maghreb countries. According to the agreement, the all manufactured goods which were to be transacted between the European Countries and the Maghreb countries where exempted from any form of taxation. This meant that trade had been enhanced and made more easier, which made Tunisia and Morocco to make a good investment in the textile industry, which could bring in more cash.[create_order]
The Arab spring was a series of anti-government protests armed rebellions and uprisings which made a fast spreading in the Middle East and especially in the year 2011. From that, it has spread in many parts of Africa and especially in the Maghreb countries including Tunisia and Libya and it comprised of a wave of demonstrations which where violent and others non- violent, protests, riots and coups. This has contributed to the rise of tensions in such countries as the Arab spring formed the basis from which the citizens held up protests to criticize the leadership of their sitting leaders. Through the rise of the Arab Spring, Egypt, Libya Tunisia and Yemen have emerged to be victims of a situation. The Arab spring has resulted in lack of faith by citizens in working with the current systems and this has resulted in the overthrowing of governments in such countries, a detriment to development. The Arab spring is therefore a revolution which is always aimed at safeguarding the welfare of citizens of various countries due to the incompetence of their leaders. The main goals of the spring where to end corruption which was rampant with the leaders, increase in political participation of citizens in the economic and political matters and a greater economic equality through safeguarding of the fundamental rights of all individuals. Misachievement of these has led to wars in Syria and Libya. This has consequently led to the increase in tension and political instability in such countries as the citizens have been subjected to a fear that their security might be at risk. The leaders were also subjected to fear in that they lacked the security of their offices since they could be overthrown any time.
The EU has ever developed an interest in the Maghreb countries, as a way of supporting its leadership. There is a much difference in ideologies both politically and economically and this has acted as a go down to the phases of development in many countries of Africa. In order to control, this, the EU has to use its own powers to counteract their negative influence. The Arab springs has also brought in a tremendous impact in the European Union – Maghreb countries relationship both positively and also negatively. This has therefore made many European states to device a mechanism to ensuring that their ties with the Maghreb countries which includes international trade relationships are safeguarded. The Arab spring therefore acts as a watch dog to ensuring that there is no oppression to Maghreb countries by the EU states. In this paper, I will therefore elucidate on the relationship between the Maghreb countries and the European Union. We will discuss various policies which where formulated by the European Union and their impact on the Maghreb countries. Again, we will narrow down and discuss the relations Spain, France and Italy with the Maghreb countries before the Arab spring. I will again talk about the core interests of the Europeans Union in the Maghreb countries and the methods or means which were used to protect these interests from the Arab spring. In this case, we will realize that proper means were adopted to promote democracy and these included ensuring that democracy prevailed in such countries so as to foster unity among member states. Other methods used included the maintenance of political stability in the countries as well as getting financial aids to satisfy the key citizen requirements. All these strategies were formulated to maintain the interests of the European Union as a tool of ensuring that they remained robust against disturbance from the Arab spring. I will also make an analysis of the Arab spring and its impacts as witnessed in some countries for example Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. After the Arab spring chipped in, the interests of the European Union pertaining the Maghreb countries changed drastically. I will therefore finally delineate on the ways in which the Europeans interests changed in the Maghreb after the Arab spring.
The core interests of European Union in the Maghreb.
The European Union had interests both for the Maghreb countries and for the Europe. Strategic interests for the Maghreb countries included the following:
Development of trade and political authority with the Maghreb countries.
Before the Arab Spring., European Union had the main interest of promoting international trade between the European Union countries and these North African countries. As a way of promoting trade, the European Union formulated various strategies which were all aimed at making trading between these two blocks easier and more comfortable one. In order to achieve this, the European Union decided that all the goods moving between the Maghreb countries and the Europe nations should not be taxed. Removing these quotas made it easy for traders to take their goods in to such countries and earn high margins for the same. Also, few legal formalities were left which shortened the procedures which one needed to undergo so as to complete the trading process. Trade was therefore made easy and this made Tunisia and morocco to major in the textile business which gave the two countries very huge returns from the international market. Hence, before the Arab springs, the European nations together with the Maghreb countries had developed strong trading alliances which made them robust to withstand he disturbance which came as a result of the revolution which was brought up by the Arab springs.
The EU had an interest of uplifting the economics of Europe.
Before the Arab spring, Europe had been facing much competition in the economic field from the other countries. There were cases of price instability in Europe which was being contributed by the much pressure which was coming from the external market. In order to make sure that the economic conditions pf Europe where uplifted, the union deliberated that the countries should device an offensive trading policy which ensured that competition was fought. Also, the Europeans nations where urged to come up with innovative activities which included the introduction of new machinery so as to increase production capacity in to a meaningful level. Europe has been using the same economic and social models for a long time in the economic market which made it hard to achieve a high scale of production. In order to uplift the economic market, the union called for the modernization of these models. There was a need to develop a more complex monetary union as a tool of safeguarding the economic market of these European countries.
Desire to safeguard the fundamental human rights and security.
Human rights are universal to all citizens. They should therefore uphold to all human beings irrespective of their color, gender and origin. At first, the Africans in the Maghreb countries were oppressed by their colonial governments. They were subjected in to tiresome jobs with no pay. The citizens of the Maghreb countries where at first oppressed under the mercy of the tyrannical colonial government which created tension in to the European Union. There was therefore an interest by the union to devise a mechanism to fight for the fundamental African rights which included the right to education, right to movement and rights to equal treatments with their white counterparts.
Establishment of a free market area before the Arab spring.
Free market area is a policy where one can carry out business transactions without restrictions. The agreement among the EU Maghreb countries therefore would make it possible for gradual growth of free market area in between the countries .This would give chances to the infant industries coming up in the countries to grow due to the competition .Free market area helps entrepreneurs be more innovative and creative due to wide interaction with other business people from other countries .Since the agreement would last for a period of 12 years this would give time for the entry of force agreements. Free market area also helped to promote unity between member countries since they freely interacted with one another.
Decrement of taxes on imports
Taxes on imports from EU Maghreb countries would decrease before the Arab spring. The decrement would go hand in hand with the schedule of the listed products. This also would enable the partner countries to reintroduce and tariffs in order to protect the infant industries .This would give a chance also for the already grown businesses to be able to become more successful because people can easily access imports from partner countries hence there is competition .However the exemption would only be accepted for the transition period which 12 years. The decrement of taxes on imports made more people get a chance to import goods and services from other countries hence increasing the market area in between the involved countries .This also made it possible for products to be enough in the markets.
Direct investment for non- member countries
This would be possible due to the free movement of capital in the union, hence non- members could freely invest .It would also enable to repatriate investment profits and income in the countries. Direct investments would open a wider area for interaction and exchange of business ideas since there are no restrictions. This would also help the union have more shareholders since non- members are already investing.
Introduction of tariffs and quota systems in agricultural and fisheries sector
This system was introduced in agricultural and fisheries sector but gradually declined in the hope of reaching a full free trade area. This was however introduced in some products while others remained in force examples; potatoes, tomatoes, cut flowers, sardines from Morocco, olive oil from Tunisia and oranges. The introduction of the system would really boost the sector since the prices of products would go higher and also the quality of the products would be better. Since the agricultural sector is the main uphold of economy this means the economy of the countries would be at a better place than before. The core interests of EU were more secure from the Arab spring.
Support economic and social reforms carried out in partner countries
MEDA which is a financial program was put in place in order to support the economic and social reforms in partner countries. This would be easy to fund the countries with finances whenever they need hence supporting their economy. The program would reform the social needs of the partner countries due to the availability of enough funds to provide the services. MEDA was established in 1996 but was renamed to MEDA II in 2000.It was again replaced in 2007 to European neighborhood and Partnership Instrument and was given a new budget of 12 billion euros for Europe’s neighborhood.
Ways to protect the European Union Core Interests before the Arab spring.
Arab spring was a wave that was in the form of a revolution including both violent and non-violent demonstration, civil wars, coups and riots in the Arab world. For the EU to protect their interests before the Arab spring they had to;
Promote democracy
Democracy is government by people. The EU had to promote democracy in the member countries in order to make it possible for all people to be engaged in decision making. This would easily protect interests since everyone was away of them .Everyone’s participation would help keep safe from the Arab spring. They promoted democracy in the following ways; they had to take views and suggestions from all the member countries and sharing and allocation of resources and especially funds equally to all member countries .This made the member countries to be one due to the unity hence it was easier to protect the interests of the union from the Arab spring. The democratic policy really worked in assisting to maintain political stability in the European Union Maghreb countries.
Maintain stability
The EU had to maintain stability among the member countries most especially political stability. Stability makes everything run as usual and normal hence people say calm, businesses run as usual and there are developments in the country. Free market area brought unity and freedom in business sector hence the Maghreb countries were as one .Introduction of tariffs and quotas in the agricultural and fisheries sector also brought stability in the area in terms of prices and also supply of the products to the public. Stability in the whole union made it possible for the interests to be safe.
Investment and financial aid
EU established a financial programme known as MEDA for investment and financial aid among the member countries .The programme highly supported the economic and social reform sector in the member countries .The member countries were fully supported financially in order to maintain themselves .This made it possible for the union to have investments from non- member countries .It was easier for the non- members to be aware of the EU Maghreb interests hence made them safe from the Arab spring. The programme was later replaced in 2007 and given more euros which enabled better investments and financing in the member countries.
Partnerships and regional organizations
Partnerships had to be established In order to do things as one .Organizations were formed among the member countries to enhance more coordination .This at large brought oneness and unity among people .People worked together to achieve their goals and interests and more especially to protect the interests which they had already made. The number of partnerships and regional organizations greatly increased among the member countries to reach most of the bigger percent of the people. The organizations also promoted the economy in the land and political stability, helping protect the EU interests against the Arab spring.
These core interests of European Union in the Maghreb formed the major items in their strategic mission. They were therefore critical to every nation and they also defined the relationship between the European Union and the Maghreb countries. For them to be addressed, there was a need to develop strong alliances and relationships between these two blocks for a common bargaining power. This was evident from the way these two sides where coordinating especially between the Europe and the southern Mediterranean. This led to the expansion of the European diplomatic field which made it easy for the nations to address global challenges.
Analysis of the Arab Spring and its Result in the Maghreb.
Analysis of the Arab spring in Tunisia
Tunisia was one of the first countries where the Arab spring started. By then Tunisia was facing economic and political instability and hence it left Tunisia in a deplorable economic situation. Tunisia was also dealing with unemployment cases, political oppression and poverty, high prices and high levels of corruption and the Arab spring left her in a worse condition than before. The spring resulted to the following;
Impact on unemployment
The unemployment rates greatly increased from the Arab spring and it has continued to grow day by day .Most of the larger percent being the youth, since they are twenty six percent of the whole population. Uneven distribution of resources between the rich and poor people has also cause the distribution of job opportunities to be unbalanced hence resulting to more unemployment cases. The increase in unemployment also results to inflation. Inflation is the abnormal raise of prices of products in a certain country. Unemployment results to inflation in that once most people are unemployed the productivity in the country is reduced and hence the supply of products is less compared to the demand hence the prices of goods and services will raise. Increase in inflation rates and unemployment depreciates the economy in the country.
Investments
The investments in Tunisia was highly affected by the Arab spring due to economic instability and high levels of unemployment and high inflation rates. Once the productivity is low then reduced or no investments can take place since people spend most the resources rather than investing .The investment rate of Tunisia as shown by the International Monetary Fund has reduced from twenty percent to twenty four percent. This results due to the increase in fiscal deficits hence leads to unsustainability .This pushes the interest rates hence it’s difficult for the private sector to access credit .People therefore find it difficult to expand their businesses and they can’t also invest .The government therefore should change its fiscal policies in order to generate funds for business developments and investments, health, infrastructure and education. It’s also important for the private sector to work hand in hand with the government in order to reduce the level of corruption and hence raise the investment levels. The Tunisia government is working to strengthen its financial and investment
Analysis of the Arab spring in Libya.
The onset of the Arab spring in Libya dates in 2011during the time of their leader Murmur Gaddafi where the masses started demonstrating against this leader. The Arab spring had both positive negative which are clearly evident at Libya. To begin with, Libya was well known as one of the poorest states in Africa and which obtained its independence in the year 1952 from the United Nations. The reason as to why Libya was colonized by the United Nations was as a result of the invasion of the state by Italy and France which led to a war between these two nations where Italy lost the battle to France. Together with England, France continued to oppress the citizens of Libya by tapping the most important economic resources until the nation gained independence under the kingship of Idris al- Senussi. Since then, oil was discovered and Libya began exporting oil to other countries. Ironically, most of the Libya people where very poor and also the education system of the country was greatly underdeveloped with very few secondary schools and no university. The level of poverty was high due to the fact that even with the oil trade that had led to the increment in revenues, these outcomes were only concentrated in the hands of few minority groups.
The succession of Idris al- Senussi by Gaddafi as the new president began ringing the bells of the Arab springs. Gaddafi ruled the country using a very different style which created tension not only internally but also internationally. The president ruled the country using traditional styles whereby he used his own ideologies to come up with decisions. The fact that Libya had many tribes made it an ethnic center where people with divergent views lived in that country. This led to wars between the same tribes which resulted in too much divisions. Due to the application of old political styles to lead people, a campaign against the president begun that led to creation of different terrorist groups in the country which even became a threat to international security. However, Gaddafi was not a chap to be scared easily. This tension led to creation of peace movements in many other countries including USA and France as a rescue towards the people of Libya. It was then that the BBC news launched it that Gadded had organized a massacre in his own country which might have resulted in to mass killings of citizens. Afterwards, it was alleged that the president had bombed his own people in Benghazi which was also claimed to have left many people dead.
The stories of the Gaddafi bombing to his civilians created tensions even to the NATO organizations who launched airlines to effect this occurrence. A war was hence set between Gaddafi and the leaders of these countries including George Bush of the United States of America. NATO troops had agreed to launch their operation against Libya government that led to an onset of a serious war which led to the mass killings of people while others were forced to migrate to their neighboring countries.
The effects of Arab Springs in Libya where many. First. The Arab Springs led to mass loss of lives. During the times of war between the Libyan government and the NATO powers, most people lost their lives. The Arab Springs in Libya also led to mass destruction of property as most citizens lost their belongings as they fled for their security. Again, it also led to migration as most citizens run to the neighboring countries to seek for refuge. Finally, the Arab Springs in Libya led to the creation of strong alliances of peace keeping missions by different countries especially from Europe.
Analysis of the Arab spring in Algeria.
It is clear that the Algeria government was not overthrown in the Arab Springs but the country’s’ citizens where greatly affected by the revolutions and movements. However, the effect of the Arab Springs was not severe in Algeria simply because the Algerian government had witnessed the same in other countries for example in Morocco and Mauritius and therefore they never needed them to be affected as well. The government therefore took a step to help improve the economy by lowering the food prices and reducing the rate of unemployment in the part of the citizens. It is therefore clear that the Arab Springs had a positive and good impact in Algeria. In the year 2011, protests broke against increment in the prices of foods. The government took a mega step in addressing this issue by subsidizing foods hence citizens could afford. It did so by encouraging mass spending by the people so as to make money available in circulation. This also created much consumption to the citizens and this the government could get enough revenue to bail up its economy. The series protests in Algeria which gave the government pressure were as a result of increase in food prices, inflation increase, high cases of unemployment and poor living conditions of the citizens. The Arab Spring brought many negative impacts in Algeria but the government was on watching to ensure that moment’s normality were restored.
The ways of the EU’s core interests changed in the Maghreb after the Arab spring.
The EU core interest changed greatly after the Arab spring in terms of; security, political stability and economy.
Economy
The Arab spring had made the economy of the EU to be unstable due to unemployment, corruption, inflation, riots, and coups. After the Arab spring the economy was again becoming stable. People got their jobs back hence raised the level of investments in the business sector .Financial aid by the union also assisted to raise the economy by supporting the member countries financially. Inflation declined enabling adequate supply of products. The private sector was working hand in hand with the government to reduce the levels of corruption and make the interest rates reduce to enable people to get credit services .Free market area also helped to bring back the economy to its position. It is important to note that the economy was gradually going back to where it was before since it had been worse during the spring. Democracy really played a big role in bringing back the economy since ideas and suggestions were taken from all the member countries .It was easier to implement laws since the people were free to say what they wanted. The agricultural and fisheries sector was highly beneficial since tariffs and quotas were introduced and these contributed to the bringing up of the economy .The EU agreed to provide more funding to develop marginalized regions and deal with social and economic imbalances.
Security
Security has been a major issue which has been affecting most states. The Europeans countries have been in the frontline in ensuring that the issue of security is solved by providing an assistance and especially during the times of terror tensions. Before the Arab spring, the issue of security had not attracted any much interest because political stability had been prevailing for quite a good time. The Maghreb countries used to send troops for training in the European nations so as to become security ambassadors of their countries. After wards, following the Arab Spring revolutions, demonstrations and riots became a daily encounter by many people especially in the Maghreb region. There was mass killings in many North African countries and those along the Mediterranean Sea as civil wars were declared now and then. This made the European Union change their interest on security in the ways discussed here: the European Union begun sending troops in the war affected countries to maintain security. Again, the European Union formed peace keeping missions and troops for example NATO which was an alliance to help in maintaining peace during war and rioting. A good example of this happened in Libya where the NATO was fighting with the Libyan government.
It is also important to note that several peace alliances have been formed to address major issues in security since it is a global issue. Different defense forces have been formed as a way of dealing with this mega issue. The European union doesn’t only address security to do with defense only but also it has changed to addressing the fundamental needs of citizens, for example there should be enough security for food in every country, in order to fulfil this, the union has encouraged trade an international trade indeed which has enabled the Maghreb countries to get the chance and trade so as to obtain those items which are not readily available in their countries. The European Union has finally since the onset of the Arab Spring provided for the security towards movement.
Finally, the European Union foreign and security policy has which was developed after the Arab Spring has enabled the European nations to act as one voice when it comes to global matters. Members usually have a common bargaining power which makes the European Union to be the most superior and powerful organization when it comes to issues which needs to be dealt with globally. In the year 2009, the Lisbon Treaty was formed by the members of the union whereby there was a need to address common security issues and other foreign affairs affecting the different polices. There is also the European external action service which was created by the EU as a tool to fighting disarmament in many countries. Security problem has been proved to be a global issue which requires leaders to submit themselves wholly to this issue. Leaders from various nations and with the guidance and administration of the European Union are working hand in hand to ensure that terror attacks are even detected before the worst happens. In a country like America for example, a very big number of security team and the peace keeping missions have been developed and a continuous training taking place to ensure that soldiers gets the required skills to deal with attackers.
Political stability
The European Union has worked to maintain security and curbing illegal migration, this can be achieved by developing economy conditions and creating more job opportunities in the countries. The member countries achieved political stability through; democratic reforms, civil society support and supporting human rights. The European Union members shown their interest in matters related to security matters among the MENA countries. For a stable state to be established it required unique domestic politics possessed by the MENA countries. Political developments had great changes in the European Union countries. This made it possible for new rulers to be elected and they would be judged by their people on the basis of how much progress they would make in the political inclusion. People were able to do this since there was the democratic policy governing the member countries of the European Union Maghreb. The political developments had an impact on the future rulers in the regions and for the European Union relationship with other countries. Coming at a time when democracy was spreading abroad and people were now more literate due to the advanced educational levels in the member countries .This was brought about by political stability in the union. The political stability had begun to worsen when the young people especially demonstrated on the streets around the cities demanding for freedom, human rights and social justices in the entire country, but was later corrected and brought back by the governing regime by then which was so much stable politically. The long-term policy towards the European Union external forces was adopted therefore it was easier to align with the popular external aspirations .This really contributed to the building up of political stability in the countries .Political stability brought with it some impacts in the member countries; there was reduced inflation rates in the countries, the economy was also stable and reduced cases of corruption in the member countries.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important that I make a summary of the core interests of the European Union on Maghreb, I will elaborate on how such interests changed after the Arab Spring as well as delineating on the main roles and mandate of the European Union in ensuring that peace and tranquility prevailed in the member countries. To begin with, let’s begin with understanding the relations France, Spain and Italy with Maghreb. To begin with, Spain has been a partnership member of the Maghreb countries. The Spain lies very close to these countries since the border is Mediterranean Sea which separates these two blocks. The relationship between Spain and the Maghreb countries is partnership one since both of them benefits from one another. Spain and the Maghreb countries are neighbors who are sharing a common history of origin, progress and political. These states are also sharing the same ge0-strategic and economic and economic interests and are all heading to a common destiny though the whole thing seems paradoxical. There is also the Mediterranean space which is under construction and whose completion will assist in the growth of trade between these states. The awareness of the relations between Spain and the Maghreb countries has been facilitated by various factors which includes the following:
Pressure due to migration from Maghreb to Spain.
It has been witnessed that there was a continuous migration of citizens from the Maghreb to Spain. These migrations are usually attributed to insecurity or pleasure and Spain has been always ready to receive such people. Over the years, civil wars were breaking in the Northern Parts of the African continent and especially during the precolonial era. This was common in some counties including Libya, Algeria and Egypt which were victims of civil wars and both from internal and external and their citizens have been finding refuge in Spain. Even after the Arab spring and the successive revolutions, Spain has been receiving a high number of migrants from the Maghreb countries. The effects of this migration and settlement of Maghreb has led to intermarriages and increment in population in Spain.
Rise of Islam in the region.
From the ancient history, the Maghreb countries were dominated by the Christian religion. This dates from a very long time ago since the conquest of the Roman Empire. After the conquest, Christianity spread throughout the region in a high speed also because of the presence the Christian philanthropists in the region. The introduction of western education also in to the region led also to the fast widespread of Christianity. Afterward, as a result of the changes growth of the agrarian revolution, many traders chipped in and most of them where from the Arabic and Islamic countries. The establishment of their territories in the Maghreb countries due to trade led to the spread of Islam in the region. This also happened in Spain and therefore the narrow gap of religious dogma in these countries led to the growth of the Maghreb countries- Spain relations.
Outbreak of an economic war.
Economic war had broken in many parts of the Maghreb countries. These included wars against colonization by foreigners, war to self-independence where most of the Maghreb where yearning for self-rule and finally war as a result of bad leadership in such countries. The outbreak of these wars made a significant impact on the relations between Spain and the Maghreb. Since the members of the NATO where chipping in to assist, there was creation of tension between these countries and Spain which led to development of strategic alliances which finally led to development of strong relations between the Maghreb countries and Spain.
Spain had a long history of relations with the Maghreb countries as compared to Italy and France. In order to understand the relations of Italy with the Maghreb countries, it’s also important that we first understand the trends in the Italian Mediterranean politics. Italy is centrally positioned because it acts as a bridge gap between Europe and Africa. Due to this strategic location, Italy has come out as a venerable country in terms of development and progress if especially are as a result of agriculture. This has enabled the country to be in a position to tap the most important economic resources from the Maghreb countries which has also facilitated trade between these two countries. The national interests Italy from such relations included immigration, security, development and energy. France has also developed vital relations with the Maghreb countries. France has also had robust relationships with the Maghreb countries. It is clear that even after the World War 1. France was in the fore front to explore northern Africa parts where it benefited greatly from its rich soils which made it possible for France to practice agriculture. France was also in a position to tap important mineral resources from Maghreb countries and this has contributed to the faster growth of trade and industrial revolution in France. The fist North African country to be invaded was Senegal which was finally colonized. The presence of center of interest for France in Africa strengthened the relations between France and Maghreb countries.
The European Union has had a major impact on the growth and development of the Maghreb countries. Its functions are well defined in the constitution which was prepared by the member states as a governing toll to all. Some of the functions of the European Union is that, it is a Human Rights forum. The union has been in the fore front in ensuring the protection of the fundamental rights of citizens. Its duty to ensure that citizens are feed from oppressions which might be internal or from external. The European Union has also created a common forum for settling disputes regarding the violation of human rights. One of the courts which has been given the mandate to solve international disputes involving human rights is the Hague in Netherlands which is a neutral body governed by its own doctrines. In addition, the Maghreb countries have greatly benefited from this because they can be assured of a good leadership since most of their leaders are guided by the common principles and who’s their failure to adhere to has been attracting sanctions.
The Arab Spring has also ha some impacts to both the Maghreb countries and to the European Union. The Arab spring led to the onset of many demonstrations in various states which created tensions and disrupted political good will of various countries. For example in many countries of the Maghreb, demonstrations led to mass killings of citizens by militaries. Also, through demonstrations, citizens have been in a position to achieve their common goals since demonstrations acts as a wakeup call to leaders whose main agenda is embezzlement of funds. Although demonstration is not a peaceful method of solving conflicts, the Maghreb have been in a position to achieve key fundamental rights of their citizens. The Arab spring has also led to development of new political realities in the Arab countries. This has resulted in that, the Arab spring has resulted in to development of Muslim Brotherhood who formed short-lived governments in Tunisia and Egypt. These governments protected the citizens from oppression by their cruel leaders and also by political invaders. The spring had a tremendous impact in Jordan whereby the Muslim Brotherhood have been in a position to boycott the elections which were to be conducted in the years 2020 and 2013.
The Arab spring has led to the deterioration of the position of Christians in some countries for example Egypt and Libya due to the existence of authoritative rule. The leaders from these countries; who are Gaddafi of Libya and Mubarak of Egypt always made decisions which benefited the Islamic groups only but not recognizing the fundamental rights of Christians. The Islamic developed to be anti- Christian sentiments and this resulted in to war between the historical Christians and the Islamic groups. The position of Christians where therefore at risk because of the creation of various groups who were all aimed at blocking their influence. Examples of these anti-Christian groups included Muslim Brotherhood which was active in Egypt, the Algeria’s’ Salvation front movement and the Salafism movement. Another impact of the Arab spring is that it brought about a regime change in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. After the Arab spring, the Islamic groups were elected in many positions of leadership hence kicking away the Christian leaders hence changing the whole leadership regime. Finally, the Arab spring resulted in to the birth of violence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Over the past years, Syria has become the center of bloody conflicts between the Islamic rebels who are trying to kick out the regime of Al-Assad. It is therefore clear that the Arab spring brought more sufferings than advantages to both the Maghreb countries and he European Union.
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