During summer 2015, Europe has seen the worst pages of its history from the end of World War II. Tens of thousands immigrants entered into Europe through Hungary, demanding to move to their craved final destination, Germany. Due to the massive migration occurred in 2015, Europe has become aware that migration flows, particularly those of refugees, are not solely a problem of Italy, but they represent a social, economic, and political issue for the European Community as a whole and - perhaps - to the rest of the world. European politicians and tank-thinkers paid rather little attention to the events that generated this migration flows, while the media focused on the humanitarian tragedy - millions people were uprooted from their homelands and forced to desperately move in other countries. Certainly, the international community is on the side of displaced Syrians, especially when it comes to children, but no one should forget that some international actors, which are hard to identify, caused this artificial crisis. For example, the worldwide dominant American foreign policy and its connections with the energy policy of the Gulf countries marks the origin of the socio-cultural destabilization in the entire Middle East and the Mediterranean area. Furthermore, both the United States and the European Union failed to stabilize those countries where multiple national actors gave rise to riots, revolutions, and wars that were caused by Islamic fundamentalists who professed a biased and partial religious dogma. Eventually, it is also worth to note that fundamentalism does not represent the Islamic world in its entireness; this is the main reason that explains why so many individuals are fleeing from places like Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq. On the one side, there is the Islamic world that yearns for a new political, religious, and social identity, so that it is now subject to a state of internal conflict between Islamic fundamentalism and Modernism. The lack of an identity helped fundamentalists to gain political influence and resources to increase their military power, which they needed to create armed groups like Al Qaeda, ISIS, Al Nosra in Nigeria, and Daëch in Libia. Within this cultural framework, the State and its policies, religion and its dogmas, and "philosophical reasoning" are more often comparing with one another to found better social rules. In particular, the traditional model of society, which emphasizes all aspects of religion and the role of women in the family and society attracts Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, and most countries of Northern Africa. On the other side, the European Mediterranean countries are witnessing rapid social changes. New debates are held every day about unmarried couples, the legalization of homosexual weddings, the growing conviction that the well-being of society is linked to individual well-being, which is exclusively empowered by material certainties and egoistic personal interests. Some European philosophers also suggested that homosexual couples should receive the right to have their children through assisted insemination, but this is a paradox with the Islamic culture. National and international institutions have to promote cultural integration between the European Union and foreign societies, as well as international organizations should not underestimate the consequences of the revolutions that arose in the Southern part of the Mediterranean area. In particular, reciprocal cultural knowledge has become a key factor in the process of understanding "the Other" (Islam). The following paper analyzes the political mistakes that have been committed in the most recent years through the examination of events that occurred in the Mediterranean area and in the Middle East, and it provides applicable solutions to improve cultural integration.
About the Author: Fabio Ghia was born in Naples on September 9, 1946. He is an Admiral in retirement of the Italian Navy and a freelance journalist. Currently, he performs professional services in Tunisia. He trained at the Naval Academy in Livorno to become a Navy Officer, and then he commanded several naval units. In 1992, he was assigned to the San Giorgio together with the San Marco Battalion who had a commitment in Somalia with the UN humanitarian intervention. He participated to several oceanic races as a skipper, and he won the transpacific race in 1997. Furthermore, he received positions of responsibility in the Intelligence of SHAPE (Belgium), and he served as a staff member of the President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the Quirinale. In the aftermath of 09/11, he held the post of military attaché at the Italian Embassy in Tunis. Then, he retired in Tunisia and he became a scholar of Islamic culture. He graduated in Naval and Marine Sciences at the University of Pisa, in International Diplomatic Sciences at the University of Trieste, and at the Naval War College, Newport Rode Island, in 1987. He is a member of the Order of Journalists in Rome, and he is the author of numerous articles and studies of strategic interest, both international and humanitarian. As a columnist in many Italian newspapers, Fabio Ghia also wrote and published articles in the magazines Naval Review, Italy Today, and in other periodicals from Italy, Canada, South Africa, and Argentina. Since June 2011, he is the Chairman of ANFE Tunisia (National Association for Families of Emigrants) with which he promotes "Intercultural Dialogue between the West and Islam" to constantly enhance cultural integration.