Reassessing Order And Disorder In The Middle East

The Middle East is undergoing a period of profound change, partly brought about by the United States' interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also by the Arab Spring. This is affecting regional relations between states and between the region and the US. For example, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE have supported rebel groups in Syria against the government, which was supported by Iran. Political Islam is a threat to both monarchies in the Gulf and secular states. Non-state actors, such as Islamic State (IS) and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) are assuming an increasingly important role in shaping the region. Further, states such as Qatar and Turkey have undertaken their own quests to shift the existing regional balance of power in their favor through soft power deployment or new or broader international alliances. Lastly, the close strategic US-Saudi relationship, primarily based on oil and arms, is being eroded by a new economic reality and divergent foreign policy interests. This shifting alliances and new regional order is the focus of the book, which examines the factors that significantly impact the foreign relations between the countries of the Middle East. Through multiple case studies, the essays identify the emerging trends and influences that are now dominating the political decision making and policy behavior of many key states. The contributors, both scholars and practitioners, investigate the main foreign policy challenges and debates in the various states, the changing relations and balance of power between them, and the continuing role of the United States in the Middle East. Each chapter provides an overview of the last decade or so, before delving into the current challenges and opportunities (often in light of the US as a power with the ability to significantly impinge on state policies, and what these issues mean for the regional order. This primer on state politics and the transformative capacity of the Middle East will appeal to anyone studying the region. Contributions by: Gawdat Bahgat, Martin Beck, Kamran Bokhari, Morgane Colleau, Bryan Gibson, Christian Henderson, Ren Rieger, Farid Senzai, and Sebastian Sons

Case studies help identify the emerging trends and influences that dominate the political decision making and policy behavior of many states in the Middle East. The chapters investigate foreign policy challenges and debates in various states, changing relations and balance of power between them, and the continuing role of the US in the region.

This book discusses the role of political narratives in shaping perceptions of instability and conceptions of order in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The authors illustrate how, in times of socio-political turmoil and outbursts of discontent such as the Arab Spring, political entrepreneurs explain and justify their political agendas by complementing hard power solutions with attractive ideas and discursive constructions that appeal to domestic constituencies and geopolitical allies. The book is divided into two parts. The first focuses on non-state actors, such as confessional communities and ideological movements, who aim to develop narratives that are convincing to their respective polities. It also studies regional powers that seek to determine their positions in a competitive environment via distinctive narrations of order. In part two, the authors investigate the narratives of global players that aim to explain and justify their role in an evolving international order.

Mediterranean in Dis/order reveals the connection between space and politics by examining the role that space has played in insurgencies, conflicts, uprisings, and mobilities in the Mediterranean region. With this approach, the authors are able to challenge well-established beliefs about the power structure of the state across different disciplines (including political science, history, sociology, geography, and anthropology), and its impact on the conception, production, and imagination of space in the broader Mediterranean. Further, they contribute to particular areas of studies, such as migration, political Islam, mobilization, and transition to democracy, among others. The book, infusing critical theory, unveils original and revelatory case studies in Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Morocco, and the EU Mediterranean policy, through a various set of actors and practices—from refugees and migrations policies, to Islamist or students’ movements, architectural sites, or movies. This multidisciplinary perspective on space and power provides a valuable resource for practitioners interested in how space, context, and time interact to produce institutions, political subjectivities, and asymmetries of power, particularly since the turning point of the Arab uprisings. The book also helps readers understand the conditions under which the uprisings develop, giving a clearer picture about various national, regional, and international dynamics.

After decades of intense interest and rivalry with the USA, the end of the Cold War and the dismantling of the USSR officially marked a period of significant retreat of Russia from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). However, with Russia’s economic recovery and the entrenchment of President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s interest in the region has risen anew. Once again seen as a battleground to contest US hegemony, Russia has expanded its political, military and (to a lesser extent) economic relationships across the region. Most apparent in the military intervention in Syria, Russia has also been engaged with traditional rivals Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, stepping into the vacuum left by the US Obama Administration. Is Russia’s reengagement part of a strategy, or is it mere opportunism? Authors with different backgrounds, experiences and origins examine this question via an analysis of the historical drivers of Russian interest in the MENA region and the factors underlying current Russian policies.

An ideal primer on contemporary Middle East Politics, covering the entire MENA region from an interdisciplinary perspective This compelling volume examines important and cross-cutting themes in the study of contemporary Middle East and North African politics and international relations in the current climate. Drawing together contributions from scholars based within the region and beyond, it weaves together essential interdisciplinary, conceptually rich, and forward-looking content. Chapters cover population and youth, civil–military relations, soft power and geopolitical competition, regionalization and internationalization of conflict, the role of oil in reconstruction efforts, extra-regional actors, environmental politics, and specifically, the Israel–Palestine conflict. Students are supported with an extended and innovative glossary, including key concepts, actors and abbreviations. New Perspectives on Middle East Politics serves as an ideal primer and companion volume for scholars of contemporary Middle East Studies, as well as for policy professionals, journalists and the general reader engaging and re-engaging with the region. Contributor affiliations: Mohamed Abdelraouf, Gulf Research Centre, Jeddah, United Arab Emirates Dina Arakji, Carnegie Middle East Center, Beirut, Lebanon Eyad AlRefai, Lancaster University, Lancashire, England and King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia Philipp Casula, University of Basel, Switzerland Ishac Diwan, Paris Sciences et Lettres and Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France Seif Hendy, American University in Cairo, Egypt Simon Mabon, Lancaster University, Lancashire, England Robert Mason, Lancaster University, Lancashire, England Neil Partrick, freelance consultant, UK

Entessar & Afrasiabi’s Iran Nuclear Negotiations (Rowman & Littlefied, October 2015) offered a thorough analysis of the negotiation process between Iran and the 5+1 great powers about its nuclear program. This book essentially builds upon it, focusing this time on the final nuclear agreement, the ensuing debates around it, and its global and regional ramifications especially in the Middle East. The first section analyzes the agreement through the prism of international relations theories, using a constructivist-critical theory approach. This is followed by an overview of the intense debates in Iran, the West, and other parts of the world, on the nuclear agreement and its various pros and cons, not to mention the connected, yet separate Iran-IAEA agreement. The second section covers Iran’s foreign policy and its various priorities, looking in particular at the impact of the nuclear deal on the country’s external relations and orientations, contextualized in terms of pre-existing issues and concerns and the profound influence of the nuclear agreement on the perceptions of Iranian power in the region and beyond. Iran’s relations with its Arab, Turkish, Russian, and other neighbors are discussed, focusing on both the direct and indirect impact of the nuclear agreement on these relations, especially the paradoxical implications of the nuclear deal with respect to the non-nuclear crises in the Middle East, such as the Syria-Iraq crisis, and the re-alignments that have put Iran at the crossroads of East and West. Other issues covered include energy security, regional economic cooperation, the endemic sectarianism highlighted by Iran-Saudi competition, and the deadlock on the Middle East peace process. The third section then examines the issue of a Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone and the likely consequences of the Iran nuclear deal on this prospect, which, in turn, raises the issue of regional proliferation and counterproliferation. The last section explores some possible various scenarios and the challenges of implementation as a relatively long-term agreement, providing specific policy recommendations for the regional actors and the external powers that are stakeholders in the volatile Middle East.