Mediterranean “regionalism"

The concept of the Mediterranean ‘region’ has been contested both theoretically and empirically time and again. But, what are its current meanings if any? What do the never-ending internal divisions between and within countries in this imagined space tell us about the state of the Mediterranean today? Conceptually, this contribution takes Wittgenstein’s notion of “meaning is usage” to frame how various international organizations have been constituting the Mediterranean over time and to critically examine whether the Mediterranean can be referred to as a regional international society of some kind. It argues that there are some “minimal” elements of the Mediterranean as a regional international society but the practices and patterns of relations in this ‘region’ are far from the ideal types of institutions or norms that such a society should abide by in theory. Therefore, empirically, the contribution looks at the case of Pan-Arabism to shed light on the integrative failure of countries within the so-called Mediterranean. It concludes that Mediterranean ‘regionalism’ represents at least a bleak experience of regional international society or possibly even a failed one.