Tuomo Melasuo’s talk will be divided in three parts. First, he will give an concentrated overview on the history between Nordic Countries and Mediterranean and Arab world. These relations have certainly been narrow but qualitatively important. Second, he will approach the political relations after the  enlargement of the EU in the North of Europe. Thirdly he tries to analyze what kind of impact the Arab Spring has had in the Nordic Countries and how their different components have reacted. Especially interesting is to look upon the competition between the civil societies and public authorities.