Middle East Today

This book argues that the modern state, from the nineteenth century to the contemporary period, has consistently been used as a means to measure civilizational engagement and attainment. This volume historicizes this dynamic, examining how it impacted state-making in Lebanon and Syria. By putting social, political, and economic pressure on the Ottoman Empire to replicate the modern state in Europe, the book examines processes of racialization, nationalist development, continued imperial expansion, and resistance that became embedded in the state as it was assembled. By historicizing post-imperial and post-colonial state formation in Lebanon and Syria, it is possible to engage in a conceptual separation from the modern state, abandoning the ongoing reproduction of the state as a standard, or benchmark, of civilization and progress.

This book states that one calamitous result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq (2003) was the dismantling of the state and the destruction of all the structures and processes of government. The invading powers, the USA and UK, were obsessed with the removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein, which they regarded a clear danger and a serious threat to their strategies designs and in the region. To justify their atrocity, they trumped up a number of falsehoods and charges, such as the issue of WMD.

Before that and over a period of 13 years, they had imposed unprecedented, fierce and relentless sanctions on the country. These sanctions not only impoverished and aggrieved the people of Iraq, but also instilled and deeply etched a sense of pessimistic impassivity among many Iraqis in that they felt no longer cared whatever the future might hold for them. The regime’s totalitarian nature also helped in creating this attitude.  To add insult to injury, the provisional US-installed administration passed many resolutions which have had catastrophic consequences, such as the total dissolution of the security and armed forces and the de-baathification law. The hurriedly contrived new constitution confounded the situation even further and negatively impacted the integrity of the state. Exploiting the inconclusiveness and ambiguities contained in it, the Iraqi Kurdish Region became a de facto independent entity. In time, the central government became weaker than the regions. The hardest hit in this chaotic state of affairs was national unity. The sectarian and ethnic quota-based policies followed by the occupying forces and the expatriate Iraqis who came along with them dealt successive blows to the laws and institutions of the land which further disintegrated the Iraqi state. Iraq now is in dire need of national reconciliation programme aimed at re-uniting the people and the country. 

This book reveals the reasons for and ways in which the Islamic Republic of Iran challenged the world powers, through the pursuit of material and ideational goals, to advance a strong nuclear program in the past decade. The book explores Iran’s interactions with the United States of America, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Republic of India, in the period before (2011-2012), during (2013-2016) and after (2017-2021) the finalization of the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. Iran’s narratives and actions to build middle power status are examined at length against the backdrop of its attempts to reshape global politics, the Middle East region, and the future of the nuclear nonproliferation regime.

This book focuses on Arab youth marginalization along intersectional lines of gender, ethnicity and social class in four cities: Jerusalem, Amman, Cairo, and Tunis. The author explores how the political and economic climates in each city influence the life prospects of youth and uncovers their narratives around their aspirations, disappointments and life choices. Providing an interdisciplinary approach, the project will interest a wide range of audiences including graduate students, scholars, and policy makers in the fields of the Middle Eastern studies, political science, urban studies, and education. 

The book dives into the socio-historical roots of the current ‘disintegration’ of the Yemeni state, proposing that it is the result of a long process of devaluation of the Yemeni economy through imperialistic means, in the historical era of Advanced American imperialism—starting in the 1970s—that is facing the rise of China since the 1980s. As the United States feels threatened by the blossoming of Chinese influence on the Red Sea and the strategic maritime straits of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb, it is of utmost importance to understand the centrality of the war on Yemen. The disintegration of the Yemeni state since 2015, involving the disintegration of Yemeni sovereignty (in part through the fragmentation of the country), is a means of creating political chaos in a strategic country. The goal is to limit the growth of Chinese influence in the region of the Arab world, which threatens the financial superstructure of the global economic system based on the US dollar.

This book examines the British colonial and American post-colonial oil policies toward the Persian Gulf from a postcolonial critical perspective, taking into account the coloniality and postcoloniality of power structures. It examines colonization, decolonization, and postcolonization of oil in the Persian Gulf through the parameters of political order, formulated policies, market structure, concession system, imperial/national interests, and great powers rivalry. In this work, the author uses qualitative, theory testing, and comparative case study method.

There are several reasons that are encouraging for the selection of these two cases: first, British colonial and American post-colonial oil policies toward the Gulf region show similar patterns of domination and exploitation; second, both colonial and post-colonial great powers consider the control of the Gulf oil among their national security priorities; third, both use military interventions, install military bases and involve in coup d’etat in the region to maintain their established oil order; and fourth, both justifies their colonial/imperial oil order in the region with humanitarian objectives such as ‘civilizing mission’ or ‘democratization.’

In this research, the state-level of analysis is used to explore the oil policies of Anglo-American governments. The governance history of oil in the Persian Gulf can be broadly divided into three phases: (1) the colonial period 1901–1950; (2) the decolonization period 1950–1972; and (3) the post-colonial period, since the mid-1970s to the present. Chronologically, the oil policies of Anglo-American governments are examined in loose temporal and spatial contexts, and each period is introduced in independent chapters, but they are complementary to each other.

This book, operating within the domain of political sociology, undertakes a comprehensive examination of the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) internal challenges. It centres on the erosion of trust within the KRG's governance structures and its diminishing influence vis-à-vis the central government in Baghdad. Pivoting on the contemporary era of the region, marked by the US invasion of Iraq, the chapters provide an empirically rigorous chronological account of Kurdish influence on the Iraqi political landscape up until the pivotal 2017 independence referendum. The book analyses the complex array of factors contributing to the KRG's perceived failures, offering valuable insights and lessons that may be gleaned from these developments, and meticulously dissects the intricate interplay of political, economic, and military dynamics that have shaped the KRG's trajectory. Salih unravels the paradox of Kurdish leaders and political parties, seemingly engaged in self-defeating actions, yet retaining their positions of power and influence. Drawing on established sociological methodologies, the book presents an in-depth exploration of the motivations and mechanisms underpinning these enigmatic behaviours. Providing readers with a comprehensive exploration of Kurdish politics within a broader regional context, the book invites readers to engage with its analytical rigour, offering a scholarly lens through which to assess the KRG's intricate challenges and opportunities for the future.

This book offers a comprehensive and insightful exploration of Oman’s discourses on foreign policy and national identity in the context of the Middle East. The Sultanate of Oman is often hailed as a peaceful exception in the region, but this work goes beyond surface-level observations to reveal the intricate complexities of Oman’s foreign policy and identity construction. With a keen focus on deconstructing essentialist understandings, the chapters delve into how discursive alignments and identity contents have shaped the government’s quest for legitimacy, recognition, and status. Employing a pioneering discourse historical approach to compare the National Day speeches and UN General Assembly speeches throughout Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Bu Saidi’s reign (1970–2020), the author reveals how discourse evolved based on time, issues, and audiences. Notably, the book situates Oman within the context of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, examining how the Omani government’s interlinked discourses on identity and foreign policy contributed to differentiate the Sultanate from other Gulf countries. With chapters exploring Oman’s foreign policy principles, its material and ideological response to the ideas linked to the Dhofar Revolution, and its interactions with the Arab world and the international community, readers of this book will gain a comprehensive understanding of Oman’s evolving national and supranational identifications and the dynamic nature of its foreign policy. Challenging prevailing narratives while providing a fresh perspective on the relations between Oman’s foreign policy and identity construction, this book marks an important text for scholars as well as policymakers and anyone interested in understanding the intricate dynamics of Oman’s role in the global stage.

This book critically examines Abdullah Öcalan’s proposal of "democratic confederalism," introduced in 2005, and its theoretical and practical implications. Despite its claims to transcend the nation-state model, Öcalan’s project leaves the colonial structures of the Turkish, Persian, and Arab states unchallenged, legitimizing their assimilatory and genocidal tendencies. It fails to secure Kurdish self-determination or protect linguistic and cultural rights, including mother-tongue education. The study interrogates these contradictions, offering a comprehensive critique of Öcalan’s ideology and its limited impact on governance, Kurdish identity, and aspirations for autonomy.

Drawing on Öcalan’s original Turkish writings, the book challenges prevailing scholarship that often relies on selective translations and sympathetic interpretations. It reveals the foundational limitations of Öcalan’s approach, exposing the structural barriers it sustains and its complicity in perpetuating Turkification tendencies under the guise of Kurdish politics.

Many states in the Islamic Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia that had previously experienced some measure of secularism turned to Islam in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. In so doing, they have changed the political landscape of their nations and the entire region, also significantly influencing international politics. The Islamist Turn outlines, explains, and demonstrates this change. And, on all three counts, the book fills an important gap in our collective knowledge by developing a typology of Islamist turns based on the institutional aspect of the change; offering an ideational explanation of the turns with an emphasis on the political ideologies and strategies of rulers; and studying the cases of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, and Iran as exemplary of the Islamist turns in the region.