Eastern Mediterranean University Cyprus Policy Center (EMU-CPC) Chairman and EMU Business and Economics Faculty, Political Science and International Relations Department Head Prof. Dr. Ahmet Sözen and EMU-CPC research fellow Devrim Şahin attended to the 14th Pan-European Conference on “The Power Politics of Nature” where they presented their studies. The international conference which is organized by the European International Studies Association (EISA) and was initially planned to take place in Malta in September 2020, was held online between the 13 and 17 September 2021 due to the pandemic. 4-day event attracted interest of many participants from different countries all over the world. Numerous panels, meetings and workshop was held within the scope of the event.
Safety Threats in Eastern Mediterranean
“Delivering a speech during the “Re-exploring the Mediterranean: Identity, Politics, Safety” panel, Prof. Dr. Sözen stated that in the Eastern Mediterranean, a zero-sum game is played in which one player's gain is the other's loss, but a way where everyone can win must be challenged. Prof. Dr. Sözen claimed that the strategies and tactics followed by the actors involved in the competition on the sharing of maritime jurisdictions and hydrocarbon resources in the Eastern Mediterranean turned into a multiplayer chess game on the submarine gas energy resources in the region. Noting that the overlapping legal claims on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions reveal the division of international law, Prof. Dr. Sözen pointed out that in order to overcome this, all relevant actors must come together at the international unofficial natural gas conference and initiate the dialogue process, otherwise the polarization in the region will deepen.
Sovereignty, International Law and Order
EMU-CPC research fellow Devrim Şahin delivered a speech during the “International Society” panel and drew attention to the need for a more sensitive and comprehensive framework of international law that could meet the pluralistic demands and security concerns of a pluralistic global society. Emphasizing that the conflicts starting from the Balkans in the 90s with Syria, Afghanistan and Libya to the present day, and the refugee flows that emerged similar to the "migration of tribes" in the history caused by these, Şahin emphasized that the new threats are the result of the transnational nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Şahin claimed that the inability to control transnational threats such as the international crisis once again shows how fragile the current international legal system is. While many nations have implemented various isolation policies to protect their people, Şahin cited the spread of infections from other countries that did not apply the same measures simultaneously when they went to re-open. Pointing out that at this point, it has emerged that new threats of a transnational nature cannot be prevented by national or local policies, Şahin emphasized the urgency and inevitability of global-level coordination and early warning mechanisms that will prevent them at their roots before they spread.
