The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century

The book examines the causes and consequences of regional turbulence in the Middle East during the first decades of the 21 st century. The Middle East experienced unprecedented instability and violence during this period including the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and the resulting civil war and political instability, and the 2011 Arab uprisings and the civil wars, proxy warfare, regime breakdown, state collapse and massive refugee flows that followed. This period also entailed intense regional competition, shifting alliances, and different forms of regional and international intervention. Leading Middle East scholars investigate the impact of turbulence on the politics of different states and actors in the region. Nine case studies analyse the foreign policies and regional role of the United States and Israel, Iran and Turkey’s policies toward the Syrian crisis, and the impact of regional turbulence and intervention on Yemen, Egypt, and relations among Arab Gulf states. Two final chapters examine the new Islamist actors that emerged during this period: Sunni militant groups in Iraq and Syria and the new Salafi political parties and their foreign policy orientations. Together the volume analyses the drivers and dynamics of regional turbulence in the Middle East during this period and its impact on the politics of different states and actors in the region.

Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Foreign policy · Geography · International relations · Intervention (counseling) · Middle East · Militant · Period (music) · Political economy · Political instability · Political science · Politics · Regime change · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · State (computer science) · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East