POLITICAL AND STRATEGIC CHANGES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

RADOJEVIĆ Slobodan M. (Slobodan Radojević, Ph.D., Lecturer, Military academy, University of Defence, Belgrade), slobodan.radojevic@va.mod.gov.rs

The paper elaborates on the geostrategic significance of the Mediterranean and the Mediterranean Sea in the past, as a precondition for consideration of current and future events in this macro-region. The author firstly considers the manifestation of the power, influence and interests of the great powers in the Mediterranean through a historical and spatial perspective. The paper analyses political and economic changes in the Mediterranean through the theoretical and practical approach of great powers` navies engagement. The author points out that the geopolitical and geostrategic importance of the Mediterranean will further increase in the future, as a result of constant regional and global aspirations to increase the political and economic dynamics of this region. The growing competition between the United States and China will have a direct impact on the Mediterranean. The author concludes that the Mediterranean will remain a „testing polygon“ for the United States, China and Russia, and a region in which political and economic processes and strategic changes in the world could be witnessed most obviously.

Keywords: Mediterranean, Mediterranean Sea, strategic changes, political and economic processes, United States, China, Russia