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Events since early 2011, variously grouped under the heading "Arab Spring" or "Arab Awakening", have cast a new light on the role that civil society plays in the Euro-Mediterranean region, above all in the Southern Mediterranean societies of North Africa, now emerging from years of authoritarian governance. Given the prevalence of references to "civil society" in much of what has occurred in Tunisia and Egypt and is still evolving across the region, it would be a mistake to think that the term has any fixed or universally accepted meaning. Even where it is loosely used to mean "non-state actors", or the interests of broader society, the notion of civil society continues to be fluid and differently interpreted even in mature democracies. Europeans, for example, are often struck by the use by American academics and non-state actors of the inclusive vocabulary of "we" when talking about the actions of the US government. In the UK, at least, the distinction between those directly in the employment of the state (namely, the civil service, public sector and government officials) and those who are independent of the state is more usually reflected in maintaining a distance between "us" and "them" in discussions about government policy and what public opinion expects of it. ; peer-reviewed

Given the prevalence of references to 'civil society' in much of the literature and policy fora concerning Euro-Mediterranean relations, it would be a mistake to think that the term has any fixed or universally accepted meaning. Even where it is loosely used to mean 'non-state actors' or the interests of broader society, the notion of civil society continues to be fluid and differently interpreted even in mature democracies. Europeans, for example, are often struck by the use by American academics and non-state actors of the inclusive vocabulary of 'we' when talking about the actions of the US government. In the UK, at least, the distinction between those directly in the employment of the state (namely, the civil service, public sector and government officials) and those who are independent of the state is more usually reflected in maintaining a distance between 'us' and 'them' in discussions about government policy and what public opinion expects of it. ; N/A

The Middle East is often depicted as being in constant transition, but rarely has it seemed as directionless as now. The key issues remain in place, above all the long-standing conflicts, but recent events have distracted attention from resolving core problems towards peripheral, if subsidiary and inter-related, concerns. As the knots tighten and the tangles thicken, it is premature to assess who, if anyone, will prosper. Adapted from the source document.