Middle East Security Issues

The present book is about instability and conflict in the Middle East at a time when many still believe that peace between the Arabs and Israel will bring an end to all problems in the region. Maybe that is due to the fact that the Arab-Israeli conflict has dominated much of the discussions about the area over the past fifty years. Insufficient attention has therefore been devoted to other important issues that may not be quite as eye-catching or newsworthy. This is exactly what the book is aiming to offer.

Routledge Handbook on Middle East Security provides the first comprehensive look at Middle East security issues that includes both traditional and emerging security threats. Taking a broad perspective on security, the volume offers both analysis grounded in the ‘hard’ military and state security discourse but also delves into the ‘soft’ aspects of security employing a human security perspective. As such the volume addresses imminent challenges to security, such as the ones relating directly to the war in Syria, but also the long-term challenges. The traditional security problems, which are deep-seated, are at risk of being exacerbated also by a lack of focus on emerging vulnerabilities in the region. While taking as a point of departure the prevalent security discourse, the volume also goes beyond the traditional focus on military or state security and consider non-traditional security challenges. This book provides a state-of-the-art review of research on the key challenges for security in the Middle East; it will be a key resource for students and scholars interested in Security Studies, International Relations, Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies.

This volume draws together a number of research papers presented at a conference titled “Security, Insecurity and Prospects for Peace in the Middle East and North Africa”, organised by Nottingham Trent University’s Middle East and North Africa Research cluster in April 2016. The conference focused on questions pertinent to what may be termed the ‘post-Arab Spring’ era, in which the Middle East is experiencing unprecedented national and transnational challenges. Conflict, instability, radicalisation and the mass displacement of people have become increasingly salient features of the political and economic landscape of the region. The contributions here analyse a range of political, economic, security and socio-cultural issues that the authors argue lie at the heart of the instability that the region is currently experiencing. Re-thinking issues of security and insecurity in the Middle East not only allows us to explain what might have led to current instability, but also allows us to posit possible solutions to these security issues. In doing so, this book goes beyond the concepts of security and insecurity as a standard account of perpetrator versus victim, in a state-centric and violence-centric manner, to a broader and more complex understanding of the underlying processes informing security and insecurity in the region. The contributors include scholars from around the world working in a variety of different fields, including Middle Eastern studies, international relations and international political economy, providing an eclectic discussion of the state of the region.

This report identifies several important trends that are shaping regional security. It examines traditional security concerns, such as energy security and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as newer challenges posed by political reform, economic reform, civil-military relations, leadership change, and the information revolution. The report concludes by identifying the implications of these trends for U.S. foreign policy.

Publisher Description

Middle Eastern politics of the 1990s have been characterized by a drive towards peace. Whether this is successful or not will depend on the negotiating process. These articles discuss the challenges, and provide some practical advice on how risks of failure could be avoided.

Addressing systemic changes in the Middle East's security environment since the Iraq War, prominent experts analyze the challenges these changes pose to US strategy and policy. They examine the causes of profound economic, political and religious transitions and their implications for hopes of reform.