Mediterranean Platform

The Mediterranean Platform is a research, dialogue, and educational programme at the School of Government, Luiss Guido Carli. It offers a space for collective reflection on the opportunities and challenges of the Mediterranean region and promotes informed policymaking and advocacy at the national and transnational levels.

The Platform seeks to nurture a deeper understanding of the region by offering insights into the multifaceted transformation of societies and polities and by addressing long-term trends and dynamics. It builds upon innovative, rigorous and policy-relevant field-based research and active collaborations with researchers, practitioners and policymakers from across the region.

Our key areas of interest include political, socio-economic and security transformations in the Mediterranean space; MENA geopolitics, regional security and diplomacy; the region’s political economy and mega-trends, in particular the governance of natural resources, energy transition and climate change. The Platform is also engaged in future studies and scenario-making for the broader Mediterranean.

New eBook out: "The Red Sea: Divided by Water, United by Opportunities"

Edited by Dr. Dalia Ghanem, Luigi Narbone, Mehari Taddele Maru & Carlo Palleschi.

The recent maritime crisis in the Red Sea has brought this vital global waterway back to the fore. But the region’s destiny is no longer being decided by the distant chess moves of great powers; it is being shaped, right now, by the assertive and competing interests of regional middle powers. Middle Eastern countries (MECs), such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye, actively rewriting the security and political map of the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa (HoA) with a mix of money, diplomacy, and direct military and other forms of intervention. At the same time, the HoA is no longer a passive recipient of MECs’ engagement. Its governments, elites, and local actors have learned to navigate and exploit MECs’ ambitions, using external competition to bolster domestic legitimacy, attract investment, and diversify partnerships.

To understand this critical corridor this book provides the first comprehensive analysis that breaks down the silos between MECs and the HoA. This volume critically examines the interactions between the MECs and the HoA and seeks to align visions and identify concrete steps toward realizing the vision of a Red Sea that, though divided by waters, is united by opportunities.

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Co-published by the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, the Mediterranean Platform, and the Pan-African Agenda Institute, this eBook provides the first comprehensive analysis that breaks down the silos between Middle Eastern countries (MECs) and the Horn of Africa (HoA). By bringing perspectives from the Gulf into direct conversation with those from the Horn, it critically examines the interactions between the MECs and the HoA.

In Focus

The Red Sea: Divided by Water, United by Opportunities

GHANEM, Dalia, NARBONE, Luigi, PALLESCHI, Carlo and TADDELE MARU, Mehari (ed.)

25 February 2026

Distribution of Powers in Libya’s Future Local Governance System

KHERIGI, Intissar

5 February 2026

Subnational Governance in Divided Societies: Learning from Yemen to Inform…

MRAD, Mohamed Aziz

8 January 2026

Youth as Catalysts for Shaping Libya’s Future Pathways for Inclusion…

SKOURI, Abdelkarim

2 December 2025

The Role of Tuareg and Fulani Nomadic Communities and Elites…

LUISS University, 25/11/2025

Hydrogen Valleys and Sustainable Development in Algeria: Pivoting from Hydrocarbons…

STILLE, Leon

21 November 2025

NUPI Russia Conference 2025: Russian Power Practices and Repertoires

NUPI, 20/11/2025

The Digital Scramble for Africa:Why Cyber Diplomacy Matters

NFORBA, Sabina

9 October 2025

Mediterranean Connectivity: New Opportunities for Trans-Mediterranean Cooperation and the Role…

NARBONE, Luigi; SKOURI, Abdelkarim; WIDDERSHOVEN, Cyril

8 October 2025

Publications, Collaborators, Public events:

The Mediterranean Platform draws on the work of leading specialists and academic experts to organise public events and provide in-depth multidisciplinary analysis of socio-political, security and economic transformations in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

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Publications

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Collaborators

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Public Events

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