Handbook of Middle East Politics (Elgar Handbooks in Political Science)

This Handbook uses a comprehensive study of political institutions, social movements and external pressures to offer nuanced study of politics in the Middle East. Foremost scholars on the Middle East examine key themes such as political change, regional rivalry and authoritarianism, making this collection very timely and relevant as an authoritative source. Throughout history, the Middle East has been subject to high levels of political upheaval, revolutions, interstate and intrastate conflict and population dislocation. Charting the ongoing disruptions to authoritarianism in the Middle East, chapters consider the internal logic of the divide between state and society, the continued disregard for societal needs, and the suppression of legitimate grievances, all of which would indicate further and future upheavals. The Handbook engages with questions of political legitimacy and popular aspirations, energy and environmental security, foreign power interests and political ideologies to present a well-rounded picture of a dynamic region. Readers will find this book rich in original and measured insights. Incorporating development studies, politics and public policy and political geography, this Handbook provides scholars and students with compelling insights into Middle Eastern politics. Front Matter Copyright Contents Contributors 1. Fault lines in Middle East politics 2. Citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa 3. Political Islam: a 40-year retrospective 4. The power of ideology in the Middle East and its limits 5. Political parties in the Middle East: the unsolved problem of collective action 6. Far-right populists in power and transnational repression of dissidents 7. Varieties of feminisms in the Middle East and North Africa 8. The political system in Iran: theocratic electoral authoritarianism 9. Where is Iranian politics? Between state and nation, inside and outside the polity 10. Saudi Arabia’s centralized political structure: prospects and challenges 11. Bourdieu’s social theory and the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran 12. External powers in the Middle East: views from within the region 13. US foreign policy toward the Middle East 14. China’s uneasy balancing in the Persian Gulf 15. A new regional fault line: the Middle East divided in search of a post-revolutionary order 16. The political economies of the Arab Gulf states: policies for change, frameworks for stasis 17. Lebanon: politics as permanent crisis 18. “People, army, resistance”: the end of Hizbullah’s legacy 19. Palestine and international intervention 20. Captured politics under colonial dominance: the case of Palestine 21. International talks in the Syrian conflict: a continuation of war by other means? 22. Globalized finance capital, hegemony and the Middle East: through the lens of radical political economy 23. Environmental security in the Middle East and North Africa: approaches, policy patterns, and activism trends Index