Conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean have a long history, and recently supposed energy reserves have fuelled confrontations. Many studies are available that mainly analyse the strategies of the littoral states of the Mediterranean. The thematic section in this issue enlarges the perspective by including the global powers the EU, the United States, Russia, and China in the analysis. The role of the regional power Turkey is also in focus. Importantly, Russia's war against Ukraine must be taken into account. Since the Russian president has been using gas as a weapon and trying to put pressure on Europe in particular, the relevance of the energy reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean must be reassessed.
Emil Badarin (Warsaw) and Tobias Schumacher (Trondheim and Warsaw), Mehmet Yegin (Berlin), Zaur Gasimov (Bonn), Jens Bastian (Berlin), and Mehmet Bardakçı (Istanbul) analyse the stakes of the European Union, the United States, Russia, China, and Turkey, providing for a comprehensive assessment of global as well as regional interests and entanglements in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In the Open Section, Tado Jurić reviews Big Data sources that could be helpful in determining, estimating, and forecasting the forced emigration flows of refugees from Ukraine.
Finally, the issue contains four book reviews.
Comparative Southeast European Studies 70, No. 3 (2022) (open access)