“The Mediterranean basin is the foundation of Western civilization,” said Dr. Sonnia Romero, an expert in ethnology and anthropology, during the conference “The Mediterranean Basin: Geostrategy, Past and Present.”
The event, which was the fifth lecture in the Lecture Series of the Department of International Studies at the Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences of Universidad ORT Uruguay, took place on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, via the Zoom platform.
Sonnia Romero Gorski holds a Ph.D. in Ethnology (Maghreb) from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in France. She holds a Master’s degree in specialized ethnology and a Licence in Social Sciences with a concentration in Ethnology from the University of Paris V (René Descartes), France.
Key aspects of the ethnic, religious, and political context
For Romero, the definition of “basin” is based “not only on geographical terms—since the rivers flow into the Mar —but also on the intense and sustained traffic that converges on that mar.”
The region, which encompasses Southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, is home to “peoples who have shaped dominations and hegemonies, some spanning several centuries. They formed what we might call a shared ‘identity’ that transcends ethnic, regional, and historical differences. It is the foundation of Western civilization.”
The Greeks, the Latins centered around Rome, the Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula, the Ottomans originating from present-day Turkey, Jews concentrated in Judea, Europeans of various ethnic backgrounds, and the Berbers and Moors make up the peoples who have shaped the region’s history.
For the speaker, the emergence of the three major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) in the Middle East is a crucial focal point when discussing the Mediterranean basin. “Paganism is very much present around the Mediterranean and coexists with the monotheistic religions,” she added.
Romero highlighted the importance of Greece, noting that the transformation of Greek myths forms the core of Western thought. “The very foundation of Western thought involves the transformative transition from mythos to logos, from creative imagination to reason, ”she said. The Arabs, moreover, served as translators of Greek philosophers such as Sophocles and were the ones who disseminated this entire body of thought in Spain.
Other historical elements that help us understand the region’s complexity include the commercial link between Venice and Constantinople (an important connection encompassing economic, political, and cultural matters) and the development of the Crusades, organized in the early Middle Ages and originating from the European kingdoms. Regarding this specific event, Romero addressed a topic that, in her view, is little known: the establishment and persistence of Christian kingdoms in Judea and Palestine, citing the reign of Saint Louis (France) in Jerusalem.
“It is very difficult to gain any understanding of the world of the Mediterranean basin without taking this background—which is very dense—into account,” the expert noted. This historical context is evident today in the formation of the European Union and particularly in the existence of small states and enclaves (Malta, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, and the Vatican).
Expansion of the European Union to the south
When asked about a possible expansion of the European Union into the southern Mediterranean in the coming decades, the scholar said,“It’s already happening; outside of regulatory frameworks (…) there is impressive interaction” between Europe and Morocco, Algeria, and, to a lesser extent, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. She therefore considers it feasible that “in the future, this relationship will grow closer and be given a regulatory framework.”