Parallels and Analogies

2019 ◽  
pp. 87-106
Author(s):  
Patrick Milton ◽  
Michael Axworthy ◽  
Brendan Simms
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
State Building ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Role Of Religion

This chapter shifts towards the explicitly applicatory part of the book. The parallels and analogies between the Thirty Years War and the contemporary Middle East are systematically expounded. The similarities include structural parallels (such as the complexity and multiple typologies of conflict; contested sovereignty leading to civil war; sequences of escalation with proxy wars escalating to direct military intervention; overarching great power rivalry and realpolitik; state-building wars and the absence of declarations of war), the role of religion and sectarian animosity, the role of monarchy and dynasty, refugees, communications technology, and general atmospheric parallels

26. Conflict and Chaos in the Middle East

2020 ◽  
pp. 643-669
Author(s):  
John W. Young ◽  
John Kent
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
International Intervention ◽  
The Arab Spring

This chapter examines the unrest across the Middle East in the 2010s. The first section focuses on the civil war in Syria and the role of so-called Islamic State., examining the causes of the Syrian uprising and the development of protests against President Assad into civil war. It describes the growth of Jihadism, formation of Ahrar al-Sham, and emergence of ISIS, and the subsequent declaration of a Caliphate. The escalation and destructive impact of the conflict is examined in the context of increasing international intervention and the involvement of foreign powers in both exacerbation of the conflict and efforts to restore peace. The second section describes the growing regional importance of Iran alongside the 2015 nuclear deal and tensions with Saudi Arabia. The chapter concludes with the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, conflict in Yemen, and the downfall of Gaddafi in Libya.

The Local Spaces of Statebuilding: The Case of Albania (1920–1939)

2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (02) ◽  
pp. 287-310
Author(s):  
Nathalie Clayer
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
State Building ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
Nation State ◽  
State Appropriation ◽  
Local Space ◽  
Space State ◽  
A Site ◽  
Role Of Religion

Abstract Drawing on studies that envisage the local as a site where nation-state building and the affirmation of sovereignty are produced rather than simply reproduced, this article proposes to shift the focus to the local level. By exploring the case of school policies in interwar Albania, at the very heart of the assertion of the new state’s sovereignty, it studies the control of local space as the locus of these processes. More specifically, it focuses on the power relations surrounding the role of religion in school space, state appropriation of school buildings structuring religious spaces, and the effect of the inscription of actors involved in these negotiations—be they agents of these policies or not—into social spaces.

Studying Human Rights in the Middle East: Lingua Franca of Global Politics or Forked Tongue of Donors?

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Allen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Women’S Human Rights ◽  
Local Tradition ◽  
Women's Human Rights ◽  
Role Of Religion

The study of human rights has gone through many phases, and the boom in the scholarly industry of human rights studies has yielded many subspecialties, including human rights in particular regions and the intersections of human rights with different religious traditions. One principal area of discussion likely to be of interest to readers of this journal has been the question of Muslim women's human rights and the role of religion in this respect. The problem was often presented as primarily an ideological one, a conflict between a local tradition, Islam, and the global demands for human rights.

scholarly journals SYRIAN CIVIL WAR: A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
DR. RANI ERUM
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Syrian Crisis ◽  
The Past ◽  
Syrian Civil War ◽  
The People ◽  
Significant Effort

The Syrian crisis is one of the most extensive issue of Middle East. The enduring fight among Baathist regime and factions of rebellion groups created a humanitarian dilemma in the country. Since 2011 the people of Syria are in complete despair, every dawn increases the intensity of their misery. The high amount of civilian deaths and destruction of infrastructure turned the country in to complete turmoil. Every day thousands of Syrian entre in Greece and Turkey for refuge and security, many among them died during this process which regularly shows on television screens but regional and internal actors are looking completely disable to do any significant effort to settle the conflicts among opponents of crisis. Therefore, the peace prospects are not very hopeful because the ongoing clashes frequently sabotage every effort between the combatants. This study design to discuss the reasons, consequences and effects of civil war on Syrians and enlightened the direct and indirect role of regional and Western powers in the past seven years.

scholarly journals Religion and Peace in the Middle East

1989 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-338
Author(s):  
Mumtaz Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Arab Israeli Conflict ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Israeli Occupation

This slim volume is based on the three papers presented at the Councilfor the World’s Religions (CWR) conference on “Interreligious Dialogue andPeace in the Middle East” held in Toledo, Spain in March 1988. The conferencewas intended to discuss the role of religion in the pursuit of peace in theMiddle East.The volume begins with a paper on “Religion and Politics: Dangers andPossibilities for Peace in the Middle East” by Rabbi David J. Goldberg.Goldberg argues that the on going Arab-Israeli conflict is essentially politicaland not religious in its origin, its cause, and in the perception of those mostintimately involved. Hence, the resolution of conflict could only come froma concerted effort to find an acceptable and mutually beneficial geo-politicalhrmula which seeks to accommodate the just demands and needs of both parties.Any attempt to seek a solution only in “apocalyptic terms” would undoubtedlylead to more conflicts and wars. Goldberg claims that religious differencesdid not originally loom large as a source of conflict in the Middle East.This may be true before 1967. But since the Israeli occupation of El-Quds,the religious dimension of the Arab-Israeli conflict has become equally, ifnot more, important than the political dimension. For Muslims throughoutthe world, the constant reminder that one of the three holiest places in theirreligious tradition is out of their reach cuts a deep psychological wound.Rabbi Goldberg believes that common to the three monotheistic faiths ofthe Middle East are “certain shared principles” that govern ethical behavior,recognize the rights of other people, and determine responsibilities ofgovernments. The logic of acknowledging and re-affirming these sharedprinciples may open new possibilities of conflict resolution and mutualunderstanding. Goldberg states: “As a Jew, therefore, I have no hesitationin asserting that the Palestinian right to self-determination is just as validas my insistence on Jewish self-determination.”Farhang Rajaee’s paper on “Religion and Politics in Islam: The IranianContext” is an important attempt to understand “the internal logic” of Islamwith regard to religion and politics or the relations between the secular andthe sacred. Rajaee argues that the aim of politics in Islam is identified withreligion. Seeing Islam as a systematic whole implies that “the distinctionand separation between various aspects of life make little sense.” Politics, ...

Counterinsurgency Success

2021 ◽  
pp. 147-154
Author(s):  
Jacqueline L. Hazelton
Keyword(s):  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
State Building ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
The West ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Military Campaign

This chapter argues that counterinsurgency success is about power, co-optation, building a coalition, and crushing opposition, not good governance. In the cases examined in the previous chapters, great power backing helped the client government achieve counterinsurgent success, and all six states remain at least nominally partnered with the West on important issues. But all six campaigns also had high human and moral costs. These findings force those who support great-power, liberal military intervention to consider unpalatable choices about national interests. Individually and collectively, these cases provide strong evidence of the explanatory power of the compellence theory, with its emphasis on coalition building among rival elites and a military campaign targeting civilians as well as insurgents. The chapter then looks at the implications of this analysis on peacekeeping and state-building efforts.

Getting Religion? The Puzzling Case of Islam and Civil War

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 97-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Duffy Toft
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Petroleum Reserves ◽  
Religious Obligation

From 1940 to 2000, Islam was involved in a disproportionately high number of civil wars compared with other religions, such as Christianity or Hinduism. To help explain the overrepresentation of Islam in these wars, this article introduces a theory of “religious outbidding.” The theory holds that embattled political elites will tender religious bids when they calculate that increasing their religious legitimacy will strengthen their chances of survival. In combination with three overlapping factors—the historical absence of an internecine religious civil war similar to the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, proximity of Islam's holiest sites to Israel and large petroleum reserves, and jihad (i.e., defense of Islam as a religious obligation), religious outbidding accounts for Islam's higher representation in religious civil wars. The article includes a statistical analysis of the role of religion in civil wars and tests the logic of the argument of religious outbidding in the case of Sudan's two civil wars.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document