Students Homepage
In this section, you will find useful learning materials from each chapter, including summaries; multimedia from each chapter; discussion questions; links to online sources for further research; flashcards; and true/false quizzes. Pay especially close attention to the online references, as they are periodically updated as we scan for new, promising resources and remove obsolete ones.
Abstracts
Chapter 1: Political Dynamics in the MENA Region: Democracy, Authoritarianism, and History
Author: Sean Yom
This chapter provides the analytic framework for studying the politics of the Middle East and North Africa. It defines the region and identifies the conceptual pillars of political study – in particular states, regimes, regime types such as democracy and authoritarianism, and the role of foreign policy. It also reviews the MENA’s modern political history, underscoring the major events, conflicts, and trends that have marked its evolution over time. In sum, this is the definitive framework for how to engage all other chapters, and which particular concepts to track and absorb.
Chapter 2: The Context of Political Life: Geography, Economics, and Social Forces
Author: Sean Yom
This chapter furnishes thick context to the political analysis proffered in the first chapter. Geographically, it touches upon the unique topographical and ecological attributes of the region. It evaluates the MENA’s economic conditions, including the rise and fall of state-led development and employment deficits that exists today. Rentierism through reliance upon oil and foreign aid also inflects regional development. Finally, it explores the tapestry of social life, picking out identity, security, gender, and populational trends that could impact future politics. The takeaway is simple but austere: the MENA is a diverse region where crises often converge, but where great opportunities also emerge from extant circumstances.
Chapter 3: Kingdom of Morocco
Author: Gregory W. White
Morocco stands at the intersection of different worlds: colonial past versus sovereign present; authoritarian closure versus democratic reform; popular obeisance versus concerted unrest; Europe northwards versus Africa southbound; and political conservativism versus aspirational youthfulness. Governed by a regime centered upon an Alaouite monarchy nearly four centuries old, Morocco’s most pressing challenges are its Western Sahara controversy, ongoing public discontent and relatedly economic lethargy, and finally how to incorporate new demands into an authoritarian system that prizes tradition and stability.
Chapter 4: People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
Author: Azzedine Layachi
Inheriting a past fraught with colonial trauma, revolutionary victory, and recent social conflict, Algeria at the close of the 2010s is experience a period of political change driven by a restive society hungry for greater openness and new leadership. Its challenge in the coming years entails not only reconciling the current contestation between popular mobilization and autocratic powerholders, but also kickstarting a torpid economy that must urgently generate more jobs and better opportunities, all the while navigating its dependence upon hydrocarbon rents.
Chapter 5: Republic of Tunisia
Author: Lindsay J. Benstead
Tunisia is a peculiar case in the MENA – a single-party dictatorship that, after a half-century, turned into a democracy defined by compromise and cooperation between Islamists and secularists. The post-Arab Spring decade of democratic politics embodied the success of electoral competition and new institutional rules, but problems of economic underdevelopment and transitional justice confront the country as governments and parties continue adapting to the demands of pluralism
Chapter 6: State of Libya
Authors: Karim Mezran and Tahani Elmogrbi
Libya has seen it all since 2011: a rebellion that destroyed a dictatorship, Western military intervention, the downfall of a long-serving autocrat, democratic elections, political infighting, collapsing governments, and civil conflict, all while powerbrokers wrote a new constitution and interfaced with international allies. All this comes after more than four decades of autocratic rule that saw little change and much underdevelopment. The path forward for this fractured state requires reconciliation between different forces, and above all the restoration of security and order.
Chapter 7: Arab Republic of Egypt
Author: Kira Jumet
The Arab Spring destroyed a recalcitrant dictatorship in Egypt, but the tumult that followed was unprecedented, as Egyptians voted several times in the most democratic elections in history before a military coup returned the country in July 2013 to authoritarianism. The current Sisi regime has consolidated its power, but only after severely curtailing pluralism and reconfiguring the economic, political, and social institutions that have distinguished the Egyptian state since its modern inception in the 1950s.
Chapter 8: State of Israel
Authors: Mira Sucharov and Hamed Mousavi
This chapter surveys the panorama of religious communities in the MENA, a Muslim-majority region but with Jewish-majority Israel and smaller Christian and non-Abrahamic minorities dispersed throughout. It weighs how religiosity prefigures public attitudes and preferences on social and political issues. It also highlights the mobilizational capacity of Islam, manifest in both efforts to suppress religious movements in the past and the contemporary rise of Islamist movements that range from peaceful service providers to extremist organizations whose violence escapes convenient explanation. Case studies of Egypt, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia reveal that different Muslim-majority populations have settled upon divergent frameworks of expressing and protecting their creeds and institutions; such diversity is integral to understanding the texture of social life.
Chapter 9: Palestine
Author: Glenn E. Robinson
After decades of trauma and occupation, the dream of statehood has stalled for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Many reasons explain this, from Israeli policies and international complications to the failures of governance and unity by Palestinian leadership, as well as Hamas. As life under occupation continues to economically deteriorate and global actors continue to propose new peace deals in the post-Oslo era, it does not appear the solution that seemed most reasonable not long ago – a two-state compromise, with a Palestine and Israel co-existent – is possible any longer.
Chapter 10: Syrian Arab Republic
Author: Thomas Pierret
After nearly a decade of civil conflict, the Syrian Arab Republic is a shadow of its former self. Rich in civilizational history and long a central player in Arab geopolitics, the country erupted irrevocably during the Arab Spring when the Asad regime faced popular uprisings and revolutionary contestation from multiple, overlapping actors that each sought to remake the Syrian state. With much of its population now scattered abroad and its political and economic institutions transformed accordingly, the country embodies both the certainty of enduring dictatorship and the ambiguity of future social change.
Chapter 11: Republic of Lebanon
Author: Imad Salamey
Lebanon is an exceptional entity. It features a consociational political structure marked by confessionalism, all knit together by regnant tensions, frail institutions, and the shadow of foreign intervention. The trauma of Lebanon’s civil war, and the communal conflicts that portend the breakdown of governance, lingers. With new challenges, from the Syrian refugee crisis to fiscal emergencies, confronting its administration, the polarized yet extant Lebanese state continues to meander forward – stable, but not static.
Chapter 12: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Author: André Bank
Jordan has defied predictions of collapse for nearly the entire century of its existence. The kingdom is dependent upon foreign aid and international support, squeezed in a conflict-ridden regional neighborhood, ruled by a monarchy implanted by British colonialism, and featuring a society cleaved by questions of identity and belonging. Yet a combination of factors, from institutional strategies of governance to geopolitical machinations, have enabled the ruling Hashemite monarchy to persist.
Chapter 13: Republic of Iraq
Author: Ariel I. Ahram
Iraq since the 2003 war is a country with very different looks – an autonomous Kurdish north that has prospered; many areas ravaged by insurgencies, militias, and ISIS; a political system predicated upon federal democracy but filtered through sectarianism and corruption; and finally an economy dependent upon oil exports, which has slowly recovered despite insecurity and violence. The country’s future stability depends not just on support from the international system, but on regional trends and the capacity of Iraqi policymakers to move beyond parochialism.
Chapter 14: Republic of Turkey
Author: Kristin Fabbe
After nearly two decades of governance by the same ruling party, Turkish democracy suffers multiple threats – economic instability, political abuses, geopolitical uncertainty, and polarization between social and religious actors. One of the largest MENA economies and countries, Turkey struggles to navigate a delicate pathway between upholding the legacies of its Kemalist state, tolerating maximal pluralism in a diverse society, and maintaining the democratic balance in between its elections.
Chapter 15: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Author: Sean Foley
Saudi Arabia is in the middle of a monumental succession, as power passes down to a new generation of princes as embodied by the controversial Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. Yet domestic obstacles, from its oil-addicted economy and vociferous political dissidents, to foreign policy challenges in the form of aggressive interventionism and Iranian confrontations, remain. While the leadership has few plans to democratize the kingdom, long-term projects include economic diversification and harnessing the large youth population.
Chapter 16: Islamic Republic of Iran
Author: Saeid Golkar
Iran has a peculiar political system, being a theocratic republic where a constrained electoral arena and tenacious policy debates subsist underneath the weight of tutelary religious institutions that give supreme power and authority to Shi‘a clerics. Such a political order has undergone many evolutionary changes in the 40 years since its revolutionary birth, but among its future challenges are an economy stifled by international sanctions, internal polarization, generational change, and the complexities of regional geopolitical resistance.
Chapter 17: Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman
Author: Jill Crystal
Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman have historically shared the same strengths and vulnerabilities – affluence and stability when hydrocarbon revenues flowed readily, and hardship and insecurity when conflicts and recessions struck the Gulf. All ruled by hereditary monarchies but each facing unique challenges conditioned by their historical roots and royal inclinations, these five small kingdoms enter a new decade with well-defined political institutions but youthful populations and declining rentier wealth.
Chapter 18: Republic of Yemen
Author: Stacey Philbrick Yadav
Yemen is in crisis. The Arab Spring shook its authoritarian political system, but fragmentation and conflict waged by various actors – separatist fronts, religious movements, the transitional government, youth groups, tribal militias, and outside powers – have all but ensured the state’s breakdown since 2012. The potential exists for further political transition and dialogue, and perhaps even a unitary country, but at the end of the 2010s the priority for many global observers is staunching the humanitarian disaster unfolding across the population.
Flashcards
Quizzes
Chapter 1
Political Dynamics in the MENA Region: Democracy, Authoritarianism, and History
Author: Sean Yom
This chapter provides the analytic framework for studying the politics of the Middle East and North Africa. It defines the region and identifies the conceptual pillars of political study – in particular states, regimes, regime types such as democracy and authoritarianism, and the role of foreign policy. It also reviews the MENA’s modern political history, underscoring the major events, conflicts, and trends that have marked its evolution over time. In sum, this is the definitive framework for how to engage all other chapters, and which particular concepts to track and absorb.
Discussion Questions
- What are the three distinctive sub-regions of the broader Middle East and North Africa region, and what makes each so different from the others?
- What are the primary differences between democracies, autocracies, and hybrid regimes in terms of institutions and practices?
- What are common reasons given for why Arab monarchies persist despite the breakdown of absolutist monarchism in other parts of the world?
- Why is foreign policy, defined as how states behave at the international systemic level, important to understanding the domestic struggle for political survival?
- Has the historical prevalence of international involvement, including foreign interventions, aided the spread of democratization across the modern region?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
The online world is filled with information – and disinformation (i.e., “fake news”). Reliable websites regarding the latest political news and events from the MENA can be difficult to find. However, consider these sources as the best region-wide monitors and portals of information:
Western journalistic outlets with regional bureaus also excel, but should be treated with caution given the potential for bias:
Beyond the news cycle, the best in-depth coverage of social affairs, cultural issues, and popular debates in MENA countries come from dedicated research portals. These include:
- Al-Bab
- Middle East Research and Information Project
- Middle East Institute
- Atlantic Council – MENASource Blog
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – Sada
- Human Rights Watch
- Cairo Review of International Affairs
- Project on Middle East Political Science
- Arab Reform Initiative
There are three online sources of economic, political, and geographic data that either appear in this book or else provide helpful guiding data:
- World Development Indicators (World Bank)
- Freedom in the World Index(Freedom House)
- Middle East map collection of the Perry-Castañeda Library
Chapter 2
The Context of Political Life: Geography, Economics, and Social Forces
Author: Sean Yom
This chapter furnishes thick context to the political analysis proffered in the first chapter. Geographically, it touches upon the unique topographical and ecological attributes of the region. It evaluates the MENA’s economic conditions, including the rise and fall of state-led development and employment deficits that exists today. Rentierism through reliance upon oil and foreign aid also inflects regional development. Finally, it explores the tapestry of social life, picking out identity, security, gender, and populational trends that could impact future politics. The takeaway is simple but austere: the MENA is a diverse region where crises often converge, but where great opportunities also emerge from extant circumstances.
Discussion Questions
- How have environmental and climactic constraints shaped the social routines of many populations in the region?
- Why do many scholars consider oil and gas windfalls to be curses rather than blessings in terms of propelling economic development?
- What are the predominant linguistic and ethnic groups of the MENA, and how have they changed over time?
- What are political and economic implications of the “youth bulge” in most regional societies?
- How do researchers account for the persistence of gender inequality in most MENA countries?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Voluminous research materials exist online for all the issues perused here. Many of the data and insights discussed in this chapter come from the following research sources.
To start, an excellent resource for exploring civil society organizations across the Arab world is Arab.org, which is a regional portal for non-governmental organizations that lists close to 4,000 entities.
Regarding environmental and ecological issues, consider these helpful organizational and official sources:
- Food and Agricultural Organization (United Nations)
- Food and Agricultural Organization – AquaStat
- MENA Climate Change Portal (World Bank)
- EcoMENA (blog)
- Green Prophet (blog)
For economic and security research, consult these data sources first, which furnish a rich array of quantitative and longitudinal datasets on all aspects of regional development and human development:
- World Development Indicators (World Bank)
- International Monetary Fund (various databases)
- International Labor Organization – MENA Office
- MENA Economic Monitor (World Bank)
- Gulf Labour Markets, Migration, and Population Programme
- Human Development Index (United Nations)
For research on identity, youth, gender, and other social issues, these online venues provide the most plentiful information, data, or references.
- Pew Global (international polls)
- Arab Barometer (regional surveys)
- Top 100 Middle East Blogs
- Al-Fanack
- Arab Youth Survey (Asda’a Burson-Masteller)
- Silatech Index
- Global Gender Gap Index (World Economic Forum)
- UN-Women
- World Bank Gender Portal
Chapter 3
Kingdom of Morocco
Author: Gregory W. White
Morocco stands at the intersection of different worlds: colonial past versus sovereign present; authoritarian closure versus democratic reform; popular obeisance versus concerted unrest; Europe northwards versus Africa southbound; and political conservativism versus aspirational youthfulness. Governed by a regime centered upon an Alaouite monarchy nearly four centuries old, Morocco’s most pressing challenges are its Western Sahara controversy, ongoing public discontent and relatedly economic lethargy, and finally how to incorporate new demands into an authoritarian system that prizes tradition and stability.
Major rivers and cities shown. “Sp.” indicates Spanish territory. Western Sahara (disputed territory) not fully displayed.
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Discussion Questions
- What are possible reasons why Morocco’s Alaouite monarchy has lasted for so long, being the oldest royal house in the MENA?
- Why is the Western Sahara issue so controversial in international affairs, as opposed to Moroccan society?
- How does Moroccan political culture as practiced by elites and individuals purportedly contribute to domestic stability?
- Which major parties are most relevant to Morocco’s electoral political scene today?
- Why has Moroccan foreign policy historically looked towards both Europe and the Middle East?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Starting points for online research include official news sources, which provide little by way of objective news but intriguing windows into what Moroccan officials see as important. These generally pro-government newspapers and agencies include:
- Agence Marocaine de Presse (national agency)
- Maroc.ma official stories (Ministry of Culture and Communication)
- Le matin
- Le360
More independent reportage can be found in a variety of non-state publications and newspapers, including:
- Telquel
- L’Economiste
- Al-Sabah
- Lakome
- Al-Alam(affiliated with Istiqlal Party)
- Libe (affiliated with USFP Party)
An English-language online daily that generates interesting content is Morocco World News, which for Western readers may be the best portal to Moroccan happenings given that most other Moroccan publications appear primarily in Arabic or French.
In terms of broadcast media, the National Company for Radio and Television began to stream online in the early 2000s various programs for Moroccans living abroad; it streams daily news clips in Spanish, Tamazight, French, and Moroccan Arabic. The official TV station 2M is also available. Radio Méditerranée Internationale is a Tangiers-based radio station that plays a fun, eclectic mix of music (Moroccan, American, African, Middle Eastern, and European) and broadcasts official news in Arabic and French.
Chapter 4
People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
Author: Azzedine Layachi
Inheriting a past fraught with colonial trauma, revolutionary victory, and recent social conflict, Algeria at the close of the 2010s is experience a period of political change driven by a restive society hungry for greater openness and new leadership. Its challenge in the coming years entails not only reconciling the current contestation between popular mobilization and autocratic powerholders, but also kickstarting a torpid economy that must urgently generate more jobs and better opportunities, all the while navigating its dependence upon hydrocarbon rents.
Major rivers and cities shown. The capital is commonly spelled Algiers in English, but on this map, and others, is alternatively transliterated as “El-Djazaïr.”
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Discussion Questions
- Why has the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) played the dominant role of ruling party since Algerian independence?
- What sparked the Algerian civil war of the 1990s, and why did it last so long?
- How has fiscal reliance upon oil and gas production affected Algeria’s national economic development?
- What has the state of Algerian civil society and political opposition been over the past decade?
- What tensions and troubles have afflicted Algerian-French relations in historical perspective?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Algeria remains one of the lesser researched countries in the MENA and Arab world, due to its past conflicts and perceived inaccessibility to many social scientists. Still, there are resources online to spearhead further sleuthing.
News portals and informational websites include:
- Algérie Presse Service (official national press agency)
- Algerie360
- El-Watan (independent newspaper)
- ElKhabar (independent newspaper)
Outside media also closely track political and economic events. The best are:
- France24 (Algeria page)
- Al-Jazeera (Algeria page)
- AllAfrica (Algeria page)
- Middle East Eye (Algeria page)
International organizations also provide reliable reporting on Algerian events. For instance, human rights monitors include Algeria-Watch and Human Rights Watch’s Algeria page. Finally, the World Bank’s Algeria country portal provides economic data and briefings on the country.
Chapter 5
Republic of Tunisia
Author: Lindsay J. Benstead
Tunisia is a peculiar case in the MENA – a single-party dictatorship that, after a half-century, turned into a democracy defined by compromise and cooperation between Islamists and secularists. The post-Arab Spring decade of democratic politics embodied the success of electoral competition and new institutional rules, but problems of economic underdevelopment and transitional justice confront the country as governments and parties continue adapting to the demands of pluralism.
Discussion Questions
- What were the economic and political legacies of French colonialism in Tunisia?
- What role has organized labor in the form of national unions played throughout Tunisian post-colonial political life?
- How did the Tunisian republican autocracy impose secularization during their reign starting in the late 1950s?
- Why was the Jasmine Revolution so successful in Tunisia, including not only the uprising but also the democratic governance that followed?
- In what sense can we say that Tunisian women have enjoyed fairly progressive laws and statutes in the context of the Arab world?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Prior to the Arab Spring, reliable online sources for Tunisian research were few. But Since 2011, many newspapers and creative outlets within the country have emerged to take advantage of the free media space, providing a bounty for researchers.
Useful Tunisian websites and news portals, many run by diligent journalists and independent monitors, include:
- Tunisia Live
- Nawaat
- La Presse
- Tuniscope
- Alchourouk (newspaper)
- Assabah (newspaper)
Structured analysis, including research briefings written by reliable analysts, also proliferate online, and are devoted to monitoring and evaluating the Tunisian government’s latest policies. Tunisia Monitor at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is the best example. Another is the International Crisis Group’s Tunisia portal. The World Bank’s Tunisia page has many economic and financial data and reports as well.
Chapter 6
State of Libya
Author: Karim Mezran and Tahani Elmogrbi
Libya has seen it all since 2011: a rebellion that destroyed a dictatorship, Western military intervention, the downfall of a long-serving autocrat, democratic elections, political infighting, collapsing governments, and civil conflict, all while powerbrokers wrote a new constitution and interfaced with international allies. All this comes after more than four decades of autocratic rule that saw little change and much underdevelopment. The path forward for this fractured state requires reconciliation between different forces, and above all the restoration of security and order.
Discussion Questions
- How did Muammar al-Qaddafi reshape the basic political institutions of Libya?
- Why did the post-revolutionary transition to democracy break down after 2011?
- How has rentier dependence upon oil undermined national economic development since the 1970s?
- What international actors have been involved in the Libyan civil conflict and efforts at reconstruction?
- How have Libya’s foreign relations changed since the downfall of the Qaddafi dictatorship?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Like other countries shaken by the Arab Spring, the downfall of a creaky dictatorship carved out space for a media renaissance. An avalanche of new publications and creativity emerged after 2011 in Libya, albeit of varying quality and (like its politics) increasingly fragmented nature. Useful websites delivering news and broadcast information include:
- Libyan Arab National Agency (official)
- Libya Herald
- Libya Al-Mostakbal
- Libya 218
- Libyan Express
- Libya Times
Increasingly, Libyan media providers have become aligned with different political figures and blocs. For instance, a pro-Haftar website is Libya Address, while a supportive publication for some Islamists is Libya Observer.
For more objective sources of analysis, Libya Monitor provides a steady fount of business-related and financial information. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace also has a useful Libya portal with briefings and insights.
Official institutions and observing organizations also maintain many useful websites. See, for instance, Libya’s High National Elections Commission; the United Nations Support Mission in Libya; and the United Nations Development Programme’s Libya portal.
Chapter 7
Arab Republic of Egypt
Author: Kira Jumet
The Arab Spring destroyed a recalcitrant dictatorship in Egypt, but the tumult that followed was unprecedented, as Egyptians voted several times in the most democratic elections in history before a military coup returned the country in July 2013 to authoritarianism. The current Sisi regime has consolidated its power, but only after severely curtailing pluralism and reconfiguring the economic, political, and social institutions that have distinguished the Egyptian state since its modern inception in the 1950s.
Discussion Questions
- Why was Nasser such a popular leader in Egypt and the Arab world?
- Why did the Egyptian Revolution during the Arab Spring succeed in toppling the Mubarak dictatorship?
- Why has the Egyptian economy struggled to generate adequate jobs for its populace?
- What explains the historic prominence of social movements, including Islamism, within Egyptian politics and society?
- What aspects of the Egyptian-American relationship stand out as strategically vital for both countries?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Useful websites on Egypt proliferate for news and analysis, and exist almost entirely outside the country given the climate of media repression and informational control currently in place.
Typical English-language media with Egyptian connections are pro-government, such as Daily News. Ahram Online is a slightly more palatable version of officially vetted analyses of current affairs within Egyptian domestic and foreign policy. By contrast, independent insights and critical views about Egyptian politics can be gleaned from:
- Mada Masr
- Jadaliyya (Egypt section)
- Human Rights Watch (Egypt page)
- International Crisis Group (Egypt page)
- Freedom House (Egypt portal)
- The Arabist (blog)
- Middle East Eye (Egypt page)
- Egypt Pulse (Al-Monitor)
In addition, the World Bank’s Egypt page bursts with data and reports on the economy.
Social news and happenings are reported in the journalist-driven Egyptian Streets. The HARASSmap initiative against sexual harassment discussed in the chapter is also accessible online. The International Center for Non-for-Profit Law also closely monitors associational life and protests in Egypt.
Chapter 8
State of Israel
Author: Mira Sucharov and Hamed Mousavi
This chapter surveys the panorama of religious communities in the MENA, a Muslim-majority region but with Jewish-majority Israel and smaller Christian and non-Abrahamic minorities dispersed throughout. It weighs how religiosity prefigures public attitudes and preferences on social and political issues. It also highlights the mobilizational capacity of Islam, manifest in both efforts to suppress religious movements in the past and the contemporary rise of Islamist movements that range from peaceful service providers to extremist organizations whose violence escapes convenient explanation. Case studies of Egypt, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia reveal that different Muslim-majority populations have settled upon divergent frameworks of expressing and protecting their creeds and institutions; such diversity is integral to understanding the texture of social life.
Discussion Questions
- How was Judaism as a faith incorporated into the Israeli state as a basis of political sovereignty during its founding years?
- How has Israel’s economy growth so rapidly and prosperously, especially when compared to its MENA neighbors?
- What domestic and foreign variables account for the rise and dominance of the Likud Party after the 1990s?
- Within Israel’s Jewish population and citizenry, what major ideological and political cleavages emerged by the twenty-first century?
- Describe the general trends witnessed in Israeli foreign policy in the post-Cold War era.
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Much information about Israeli politics and policies can be found online, given their democratic openness and vibrant debates. The following provide good starting points for research:
- Government of Israel (official)
- Knesset (official)
- Ministry of Defense
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Central Bureau of Statistics
The Israeli media scene is likewise diverse, and spans the political spectrum. A sampling of daily newspapers includes:
- Ha’aretz (left-wing)
- Jerusalem Post (right-wing)
- Yediot Ahronot
- Times of Israel
- Globes (business news)
The Israel Democracy Institute’s Peace Index runs monthly surveys on public sentiments in Israel regarding the Palestinian conflict. Finally, the Schusterman Center at Brandeis University contains a wide variety of online essays, syllabi, images, and resources devoted to Israeli studies.
Chapter 9
Palestine
Author: Glenn E. Robinson
After decades of trauma and occupation, the dream of statehood has stalled for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Many reasons explain this, from Israeli policies and international complications to the failures of governance and unity by Palestinian leadership, as well as Hamas. As life under occupation continues to economically deteriorate and global actors continue to propose new peace deals in the post-Oslo era, it does not appear the solution that seemed most reasonable not long ago – a two-state compromise, with a Palestine and Israel co-existent – is possible any longer.
Discussion Questions
- Why did the PLO shift towards a strategy of diplomacy and negotiation after the 1970s?
- What internal social conflicts occurred with the establishment of the Palestinian Authority after the Oslo peace process?
- How has Hamas been so successful in contesting Fatah and other political groups for leadership?
- What major obstacles exist that keep the Palestinian economy from growing and flourishing?
- What is the underlying foreign policy strategy of the Palestinian Authority today?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
The online world presents a rich labyrinth of information regarding Palestine and Palestinian politics. Official sources with data, documentation, histories, and statements from the Palestinian Authority include:
- PLO Negotiations Affairs Department
- Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
- United Nations Relief and Works Agency
Online daily news sources in English that cover Palestinian issues include:
Civil society groups and peace monitors also provide considerable information on happenings within Palestine, including furnishing surveys, essays, and research materials. These include:
- Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network
- Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
- Foundation for Middle East Peace
- Badil Resource Center
- Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
- Jerusalem Media and Communications Center
- Institute for Palestine Studies
Chapter 10
Syrian Arab Republic
Author: Thomas Pierret
After nearly a decade of civil conflict, the Syrian Arab Republic is a shadow of its former self. Rich in civilizational history and long a central player in Arab geopolitics, the country erupted irrevocably during the Arab Spring when the Asad regime faced popular uprisings and revolutionary contestation from multiple, overlapping actors that each sought to remake the Syrian state. With much of its population now scattered abroad and its political and economic institutions transformed accordingly, the country embodies both the certainty of enduring dictatorship and the ambiguity of future social change.
Discussion Questions
- How did the Ba‘th Party dominate Syrian politics starting in the 1960s?
- rior to the Arab Spring, what types of domestic opposition did the Syrian regime confront and suppress?
- hat explains the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria?
- hy did the Asad regime emerge victorious from the Syrian civil conflict?
- ow have Syria’s regional ties with other MENA countries evolved in the twenty-first century?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
The Syrian civil war catapulted the country into the global limelight, resulting in a proliferation of online sources and research platforms. Though not all are reliable, these are good places to start in terms of sleuthing for analysis and developments in Syria:
- Al-Jumhuriya
- Syria Pulse (Al-Monitor)
- Syria Deeply
- Al-Jazeera (Syria page)
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Syria portal)
- Syria Comment (blog)
- Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (blog)
For rich, in-depth data on the humanitarian and military aspects of the situation in Syria, see the International Displacement Monitoring Centre; the Syria Human Rights Observatory; the Syria Civil War Map website, which has tracked the ebb and flow of the conflict; the Middle East Directions Programme; and Human Rights Watch’s Syria country portal.
Chapter 11
Republic of Lebanon
Author: Imad Salamey
Lebanon is an exceptional entity. It features a consociational political structure marked by confessionalism, all knit together by regnant tensions, frail institutions, and the shadow of foreign intervention. The trauma of Lebanon’s civil war, and the communal conflicts that portend the breakdown of governance, lingers. With new challenges, from the Syrian refugee crisis to fiscal emergencies, confronting its administration, the polarized yet extant Lebanese state continues to meander forward – stable, but not static.
Discussion Questions
- What are the institutional origins of the consociational power-sharing system within Lebanese politics?
- Why is Lebanon’s political regime classified as “hybrid” rather than strictly democratic or authoritarian?
- How did international involvement change the nature of the Lebanese civil war?
- What were the political consequences of the Hariri assassination in 2005?
- How did the Syrian civil war affect Lebanon’s economy and society?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
There are many online sources that can spark research into Lebanese politics. United Nations programs and agencies provide continuous monitoring and analysis reporting of Lebanon, particularly with respect to refugees and humanitarian responses, labor conditions, human rights, elections, security, and development. For relevant websites, consult:
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Lebanon page)
- UN Development Programme (Lebanon page)
- UN Interim Force in Lebanon
- UN World Food Programme (Lebanese site)
- UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Lebanese portal)
Lebanese media and civil society are vibrant, vociferous, and sometimes reflective of confessional politics. For current affairs in English, consult:
- Daily Star
- Annahar
- Naharnet
- Al-Akhbar (widely read but has been described as pro-Hizbullah)
- Lebanon News and Reports Index.
For NGO’s and civic organizations, an excellent directory is Daleel Madani. Finally, the Moise Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies displays interesting cultural histories about the vast global diaspora of Lebanese living abroad.
Chapter 12
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Author: André Bank
Jordan has defied predictions of collapse for nearly the entire century of its existence. The kingdom is dependent upon foreign aid and international support, squeezed in a conflict-ridden regional neighborhood, ruled by a monarchy implanted by British colonialism, and featuring a society cleaved by questions of identity and belonging. Yet a combination of factors, from institutional strategies of governance to geopolitical machinations, have enabled the ruling Hashemite monarchy to persist.
Major water bodies and cities shown. There are no major inland rivers.
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Discussion Questions
- What types of external threats and security challenges has Jordan’s Hashemite monarchy overcome since its creation?
- How has the Palestinian-East Bank divide shaped the internal politics and economy of the kingdom?
- Why has Jordan’s Islamist sector been so active and well-mobilized?
- What was the effect of the Arab Spring in Jordan?
- What benefits does Jordan receive from maintaining its pro-Western foreign policy?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Jordan has a large and active space for Internet research. News and analysis of political events, both from official sources and independent journalistic forums, abound. These are among the leading references in English:
- Petra News Agency (official news agency)
- Roya News (official television news)
- Jordan Times (semi-official newspaper)
- 7iber (independent blog)
- Raseef22 (independent)
- Aramram (independent)
- AmmanNet (community media)
- Middle East Eye (Jordan page)
- Venture Magazine
For deeper analysis, including political data and economic data, consult these importance sources and organizations. The first stop is Phenix Center’s Guide to Jordanian Politics, which maps out the cabinet and parliamentary composition.
Beyond that, the government has pushed many institutions online. E-government websites include the official government portal (where some ministries and councils maintain decent websites); the Department of Statistics, which provides quantitative data on every aspect of the country; and the homepage for parliament.
Civil society organizations are mapped out as well here at the FES-Phenix Center’s NGO Guide. Relevant laws affecting civic groups and associations are monitored at the ICNL.
Chapter 13
Republic of Iraq
Author: Ariel I. Ahram
Iraq since the 2003 war is a country with very different looks – an autonomous Kurdish north that has prospered; many areas ravaged by insurgencies, militias, and ISIS; a political system predicated upon federal democracy but filtered through sectarianism and corruption; and finally an economy dependent upon oil exports, which has slowly recovered despite insecurity and violence. The country’s future stability depends not just on support from the international system, but on regional trends and the capacity of Iraqi policymakers to move beyond parochialism.
Discussion Questions
- Why did political stability prove elusive after World War Two in Iraq?
- What are the predominant sectarian cleavages found within Iraq today?
- How did the Iraqi insurgency in the late 2000s contribute to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria?
- Has federalism proved successful as the institutional bridge to democracy in post-war Iraq?
- How and why did Iraq’s foreign policy change so drastically in the 2000s?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Much of Iraq’s media sphere exists online, but much of it also follows sectarian and communal allegiances that make it difficult to sift through objective reportage. Some English-language and mostly independent sources to start would include:
- Iraqi News
- Al-Zaman
- Niqash (media portal)
- Voice of Iraq (radio station)
- Al-Jazeera (Iraq page)
Third parties, such as think tanks and international monitors, have published many libraries of research online regarding Iraqi politics and happenings. Examples include:
- International Crisis Group
- Chatham House
- Human Rights Watch
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Iraqi blogs furnish unmediated views of political and social life inside the country. An example include Musings on Iraq and Abbad Kadhim’s blog.
Finally, based in Baghdad, the Iraq Memory Foundation documents past abuses under Ba‘th rule for an historical perspective.
Chapter 14
Republic of Turkey
Author: Kristin Fabbe
After nearly two decades of governance by the same ruling party, Turkish democracy suffers multiple threats – economic instability, political abuses, geopolitical uncertainty, and polarization between social and religious actors. One of the largest MENA economies and countries, Turkey struggles to navigate a delicate pathway between upholding the legacies of its Kemalist state, tolerating maximal pluralism in a diverse society, and maintaining the democratic balance in between its elections.
Discussion Questions
- How did the Turkish political party system evolve after the 1930s?
- What were the institutional consequences of the 1980 military coup?
- What has been the government’s historical policy towards demands for Kurdish autonomy in the east?
- Why have economic reforms proven so elusive and difficult for Turkish politicians to undertake since the 1990s?
- How has Turkish foreign policy evolved since the rise of the AKP?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Given the closure of many Turkish media outlets under the increasingly restrictive environment for free expression, online sources provide the most independent insights about the latest events and developments there. Among the best sources are:
- Turkey Analyst
- Turkey Pulse (Al-Monitor)
- Hurriyet Daily (Turkey)
- Daily Sabah (Turkey)
- CNNTurk (Turkey)
Beyond news analysis, researchers can access organizations and journals that provide deeper takes. For instance, Insight Turkey is a journal focusing upon Turkish foreign policy and relations. The Institute for Turkish Studies has a wealth of online resources regarding the further study of Turkish politics and society. The Turkey Project of the Brookings Institution likewise has a dense collection of briefings and reports.
Finally, the World Bank provides a plethora of economic data and studies on Turkey’s ongoing financial issues.
Chapter 15
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Author: Sean Foley
Saudi Arabia is in the middle of a monumental succession, as power passes down to a new generation of princes as embodied by the controversial Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. Yet domestic obstacles, from its oil-addicted economy and vociferous political dissidents, to foreign policy challenges in the form of aggressive interventionism and Iranian confrontations, remain. While the leadership has few plans to democratize the kingdom, long-term projects include economic diversification and harnessing the large youth population.
Discussion Questions
- How has Wahhabi Islam shaped the social and political development of Saudi Arabia?
- Historically, how has the question of royal succession been handled within the House of Saud?
- What have been the primary economic and social effects of oil dependence in the kingdom?
- What political role are youths and women projected to play in the coming years?
- What aggressive foreign policy initiatives has Saudi Arabia undertaken in the MENA region since the Arab Spring?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Although the Internet was first introduced to Saudi Arabia in 1999, it has grown rapidly over the last two decades, reaching most of the population. Social media is widely used, especially YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.
Yet in terms of news and analysis, the government still maintains tight control over most media outlets. Paradigmatic examples of English-language sources include:
- Saudi Gazette
- Arab News
- Al-Arabiya (Saudi-based competitor to Qatar-based Al-Jazeera)
Outside of Saudi Arabia, independent forums and organizations provide rigorous Saudi-related analysis. Examples include:
- The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Saudi page)
- International Center for Non-for-Profit Law
- StepFeed
- Arabian Business (business and economy)
Given official restrictions within the kingdom, many Saudi innovators of new media content operate through YouTube and Twitter; the more daring creative producers include Myrkott, Telfaz11, 8IES, and Uturn.
Chapter 16
Islamic Republic of Iran
Author: Saeid Golkar
Iran has a peculiar political system, being a theocratic republic where a constrained electoral arena and tenacious policy debates subsist underneath the weight of tutelary religious institutions that give supreme power and authority to Shi‘a clerics. Such a political order has undergone many evolutionary changes in the 40 years since its revolutionary birth, but among its future challenges are an economy stifled by international sanctions, internal polarization, generational change, and the complexities of regional geopolitical resistance.
Discussion Questions
- What were the underlying causes of the Iranian Revolution?
- What distinguishes Iran’s authoritarian regime from all other autocracies in the MENA?
- What are the predominant linguistic and ethnic groups in Iran?
- How has ideology shaped Iranian foreign policy goals as projected across the MENA region?
- What are the major axes of political competition within Iran’s electoral system?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Iran can strike observers as a surprisingly open country amenable to online research, despite its reputation for censorship. International observers and Iranian analysts ensure that the following useful websites deliver research-friendly news, analyses, and briefings:
- Pars Times
- Payvand
- Iran Review
- Iran Wire
- RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty (Iran portal)
- Gooya (multimedia and news)
- Iran Human Rights Monitor
Global organizations and think tanks also regularly analyze Iranian developments from economic, geopolitical, and social perspectives, such as:
- Iranian Economic Monitor (World Bank)
- RAND Corporation
- Chatham House
- CSIS
Several major university-based programs also dive into Iranian history and affairs; among them are Stanford’s Program in Iranian Studies and Manchester’s Nashriyah, a digital archive of Iranian historical periodicals, photographs, and documents.
Chapter 17
Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman
Author: Jill Crystal
Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman have historically shared the same strengths and vulnerabilities – affluence and stability when hydrocarbon revenues flowed readily, and hardship and insecurity when conflicts and recessions struck the Gulf. All ruled by hereditary monarchies but each facing unique challenges conditioned by their historical roots and royal inclinations, these five small kingdoms enter a new decade with well-defined political institutions but youthful populations and declining rentier wealth.
Major water bodies and cities shown.
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Discussion Questions
- How did most of the Arabian Gulf kingdoms gain independence?
- What makes Kuwaiti politics so distinctive from its Gulf neighbors?
- Why is sectarianism an issue of political sensitive and regime survival in Bahrain?
- What role do foreigners play in the economies of the Gulf kingdoms?
- Why is Qatar among the wealthiest countries in the world?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Each of the countries examined here carries its own unique media sphere, including social media, broadcast stations, daily newspapers, and blogs. English-language sources abound, but many official media are not independent despite being quite readable, such Kuwait’s The Kuwait Times and the UAE’s Gulf News. A simple Google search can locate all of these.
That said, there are many Gulf-wide online sources that can guide research and analysis thanks to the work of rigorous journalism, think tanks, and research organizations. These include:
- Al-Jazeera (Qatar-based)
- Gulf2000 (portal)
- Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies
- RAND Corporation (Gulf section)
- GLMM Programme
- Gulf Research Center
Economics and business command considerable attention. Among the best sources for news and insight are:
- Gulf Economic Monitor (World Bank)
- Gulf Business
- Arabian Business
- Gulf News – Business (newspaper)
Chapter 18
Republic of Yemen
Author: Stacey Philbrick Yadav
Yemen is in crisis. The Arab Spring shook its authoritarian political system, but fragmentation and conflict waged by various actors – separatist fronts, religious movements, the transitional government, youth groups, tribal militias, and outside powers – have all but ensured the state’s breakdown since 2012. The potential exists for further political transition and dialogue, and perhaps even a unitary country, but at the end of the 2010s the priority for many global observers is staunching the humanitarian disaster unfolding across the population.
Discussion Questions
- How did the political systems of North and South Yemen diverge prior to their unification?
- What forms of civic and popular opposition existed in unified Yemen against the Salih regime?
- Why has the Yemeni economy lagged behind many of its Arab peers in recent decades, even before the civil conflict?
- Why did the post-Arab Spring political transition fail?
- What have been the consequences of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen since 2015?
Flashcards
Quizzes
Online Resources
Though Yemen has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in the MENA, researchers can still find substantial resources online that provide insight into contemporary Yemeni events. The best English-language sources of analysis include:
- Yemen Post
- Yemen Online
- Chatham House (Yemen page)
- Atlantic Council (Yemen portal)
- Brookings Institution (Yemen page)
- Middle East Institute (Yemen page)
- International Crisis Group (Yemen section)
In addition, international organizations have maintained close contact with Yemeni actors in reporting on the ongoing conflict. The best source for data on the Yemeni war at the close of the 2010s, including interventions and airstrikes by outside actors, is the Yemen Data Project. The Civilian Impact Monitoring Project has an excellent country page as well. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs provides a useful site on Yemeni developments. Finally, the Yemen Peace Project is an advocacy organization delivering information about the war.