Politics

After defining the geographical scope of the Mediterranean Union and explaining why adjacent seas and non-Mediterranean riparian countries were excluded, the Baltic and Nordic Councils and their objectives will be presented in order to identify what brings them closer to this Union and the differences in their respective goals. The geographical boundaries of the Mediterranean Union were precisely defined: the Mediterranean Sea, delimited by the Straits of Gibraltar and the Dardanelles, as well as the Suez Canal. The countries concerned included those forming what may be called the European Mediterranean arc (including Portugal, by virtue of its language, history, and culture), as well as the southern and eastern riparian countries, numbering sixteen: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Turkey; for the Adriatic: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Albania, and Montenegro; and finally Mauritania, for a reason similar—though not identical—to that justifying Portugal’s inclusion.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. The Tehran regime has not fallen; and even if it has been weakened, it is not on the verge of collapse. While the demonstrations and riots that have erupted in Iran’s cities—led by academics, women, bazaar merchants, and other segments of society—are noteworthy, one may well ask whether they have surpassed in scale those that toppled the Shah in 1979. Yet these convulsions and protests could suddenly reach an unforeseen level of gravity, and it would not be illusory to bet on their success, as the German chancellor has openly suggested. Even in the event of an Israeli or American strike!

In this series of articles, Levant Time traces the genesis, creation, and current operation of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), of which Lebanon is a member. A prospective approach on what the Land of the Cedars could undertake, and the role it can play within this Union, will conclude the series. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is the direct heir to the Barcelona Process, and then to the project launched in 2008 by French President Nicolas Sarkozy under the title of “Mediterranean Union.” This initiative, approved by a large number of actors but rejected, or even criticized, by others – notably the countries of Northern Europe, led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who were wary of its outlines and implications – nevertheless presented two essential merits. The first was to allow the completion of a project, albeit under another name and in another form, but concretizing the creation of a “Union for the Mediterranean.” The second was to revive, by replacing it, a Barcelona process that was losing momentum, but by reversing its construction logic.

The irony of history is that the American show of force in Venezuela on the night of January 3-4 marked the beginning of a new episode of “planetary destabilization” against which Pope Leo XIV had warned a few days earlier, in his Message for the 59th International Day of Peace on January 1, 2026. “In relations between citizens and rulers,” the Sovereign Pontiff affirmed, “it has come to be considered a fault not to prepare sufficiently for war, to react to attacks, to respond to violence. Far beyond the principle of legitimate self-defense, this antagonistic logic is, on a political level, the most current factor in a planetary destabilization that is becoming more dramatic and unpredictable every day.”

In Iran, two parallel scenes are unfolding today. Two scenes that do not cancel each other out, but rather exacerbate the critical situation: streets seething with sporadic but persistent protests, and an authority that responds with increasingly brutal repression, carried out jointly by the Revolutionary Guards and the Supreme Leader. This parallel does not reflect balance, but rather fear. Regimes confident in their power do not need such a level of sustained violence, while regimes in crisis know that any security breach could lead to their collapse. However, the most serious question concerns not only the Iranian regime's ability to withstand internal pressures, but also the repercussions of any instability or potential collapse on the entire region. Iran has never been a country isolated from its crises, but rather the center of a transnational network of influence, carefully constructed over more than four decades. Any crack at the center will inevitably have repercussions on the periphery.

Welcome to Tropic Thunder , a five-part short series by Levant Time designed to help you understand the different reasons behind the current U.S. interventionism in the Caribbean. This series was completed 48 hours before the American attack on Venezuela.

Bogota, Colombia, by Maxime Pluvinet In the Colombian capital, spontaneous gatherings have been organized in recent days, bringing together Venezuelans, most of whom are political refugees. Most of them supporters of the opposition, they are celebrating the fall of former Bolivarian leader Nicolás Maduro, captured on January 3 by the United States. Report. In Bogotá, Lourdes Square was for an hour covered with the three horizontal yellow, blue, and red stripes, adorned with eight stars, that characterize the Venezuelan flag. A few dozen members of the diaspora gathered on Sunday to celebrate the fall of former Chavista president Nicolás Maduro, captured by the United States during a lightning operation in central Caracas.

Bogota, Colombia, by Maxime Pluvinet An impromptu development that occurred in the middle of this week could significantly impact the ongoing events in Latin America. A thaw in relations is (timidly) emerging between the United States and Colombia, as relations between the two countries have been particularly tense for several months. Accused by Washington of facilitating the actions of drug traffickers in the American continent, particularly targeting the United States, Colombian President Gustavo Petro was recently targeted by American sanctions. This bilateral tension escalated significantly following the 'blitz' operation carried out on January 3rd in Caracas by American forces. This intervention led to the arrest by a US commando unit of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was then extradited to the USA.

The question of the Iranian regime's future today arises not as a theoretical question, but as a consequence of the unprecedented accumulation of internal crises and external pressures since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. However, the importance of this question lies not only in the fate of Tehran, but also in the repercussions of any change within the Iranian decision-making center on its regional structures, notably Hezbollah in Lebanon, considered the most successful model of a 'functional weapon' beyond Iranian borders. First: The nature of the relationship between Iran and Hezbollah

Welcome to Tropic Thunder , a five-part short series by Levant Time designed to help you understand the different reasons behind the current U.S. interventionism in the Caribbean. This series was completed 48 hours before the American attack on Venezuela.