Evolution of the EU Policy Approaches Towards the Arab Awakening countries

The paper examines the evolution of the EU approaches towards the states of the Middle East and North Africa affected by the Arab Awakening. The scrutiny of Brussels' policy in the region reveals two main periods during which the EU approaches underwent a meaningful transformation. The first policy change occurred in 2011–2012, in response to the protest movements in the Arab countries when the European Union began to revise its policy in the Mediterranean to respond more effectively to the challenges emerging from the region. This revision, according to the adopted documents, resulted in the shift from ensuring security and promoting trade and economic interests to democracy promotion in the EU strategy. However, the task of implementing novel approaches in the context of increasing regional instability and for some other reasons proved to be unachievable. In 2015–2016 the EU policy took another turn which resulted in a reinstatement of the model of relations with the states of the Southern Mediterranean, which had been fostered prior to the Arab Awakening.