There is a basic view of the development of the world in the Early Modern period (basically, post-1492) that is common in world systems theory that you might be interested in. I believe that the main source I am relying on for the following is Andre Gunder Frank's REOrient, but I will admit that it has been some time since I studied this material in-depth.

Basically, according to World Systems Theory people like Frank, Europe, especially Western Europe, was on the periphery of the prevailing world system in the 15th century. This is the system that included all of Eurasia and North Africa, plus sub-Saharan Africa in a more limited way. The nations of Western Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula, were poor and marginal. This stimulated them to find alternate ways to access the richest part of the world economy, which was situated around the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. This is the genesis of Portuguese explorations around the Horn of Africa, as well as Spanish attempts to reach Asia. The most famous of these is of course the voyage of Christopher Columbus, which resulted in the European "discovery" of the New World. Suddenly, Europeans, especially the Spanish, had access to large quantities of New World precious metals, particularly silver from Peru. This enabled Western Europe to force its way to world prominence because it radically shifted the balance of monetary power in the world. For the 16th and 17th centuries the Spanish were the dominant player in this system, but after that other maritime European powers in more northerly latitudes also began to assert their dominance, primarily through conflict with Spain. These were primarily the Dutch and English, with the French and various Scandinavian powers also playing a part.

Since Europe was now the center of the world economy, it was able to assert its economic and military dominion over areas that had previously been equal or even lesser to. One result of this was colonialism and later imperialism. Another was the industrial revolution.

I am sure there are historians of the Mediterranean more specifically who can offer alternative explanations, as well as people who might offer good criticisms of World Systems Theory (for one, it minimizes the agency of individual actors). But I do think the arrival of silver and other trade goods from the New World must have played a significant role in the reorientation of the world economy away from the Indian Ocean and towards the Atlantic.