Middle East and North Africa This special interest area comprises a vast and diverse geographic region, extending from the African continent’s nor thern Atlantic coast to Southeast Asia. Instability and security crises threaten to become constants in this region in coming years. The open conflicts in Iraq, Libya, and Syria have a negative regional impact in terms of propagating threats related to terrorism, as well as the rivalry between different regional powers. In these circumstances of declining regional security, agreements such as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for Iran endorsed by the UN Security Council in 2015, and the search for multilateral commitments in general are impor tant. The Mediterranean is an area where different States and international actors are seeking to project their power, making it a linchpin of strategic movements of global interest. Examples of this are Russia’s strategic rapprochement to the western coast as a way to suppor t its fleet in the Mediterranean; China’s commercial expansionism into por ts as key points on its New Silk Road; the EU and NATO sea operations to address security challenges such as combating human trafficking networks; as well as the permanent deployment of US warships with ballistic missile defence capabilities. Presidency of the Government National Security Strategy 2017 43