scholarly journals Middle East: The Origins of the 'Islamic State' (ISIS)

2018 ◽  
pp. 3-22
Author(s):  
Mediel Hove ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
International Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Terrorist Group ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The Arab Spring

This article examines the origins of the ‘Islamic State’ or the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham or Levant (ISIS) in light of the contemporary political and security challenges posed by its diffusion of Islamic radicalism. The Arab Spring in 2011 ignited instability in Syria providing an operational base for the terrorist group to pursue its once abandoned Islamic state idea. Its growth and expansion has hitherto proved to be a threat not only to the Middle East but to international security given its thrust on world domination. It concludes that the United States of America’s activities in the Middle East were largely responsible for the rise of the Islamic State.

Multiplicities of Purpose: The Auditorium Building, the State, and the Transformation of Arab Digital Media

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-347
Author(s):  
David Faris
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Transnational Media ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
Moment Of Resistance ◽  
The Arab Spring

Digital media played a key role in a number of uprisings that later became known as the Arab Spring. Now that this moment of resistance has largely given way to a tumultuous and unsettled regional order, we can ask what role these media forms are playing in the new ecology of the postuprisings Middle East. I would argue that we are witnessing a period of experimentation—journalists are attempting to generate both revenue and dissent under circumstances that range from unsettled (Tunisia) to increasingly repressive (Jordan), while proto-state actors and transnational jihadis are exploiting social media to attract supporters and influence diverse audiences. What is clear is that in many states the digital arrangement that characterized the 2000s—activist bloggers squaring off openly with recalcitrant and often clueless states—is gone. States are now more aware of and careful about the strategies they employ vis-à-vis digital dissent. In places such as Egypt, some of the most vocal activists are in prison. In Jordan, they have returned to producing journalism that skirts the line between tolerated and forbidden. Across the region digital media activists are grappling with disillusionment about the trajectory of the Arab Spring, while digital spaces are sites for transnational contestation, including by the most successful challenger to the state system since Jamal ʿAbd al-Nasir in the 1950s, the Islamic State (IS). ʿAbd al-Nasir famously used radio to breach the information firewalls erected by new Arab states. IS has similarly employed the technologies of the day to execute a plan of even greater ambition and reach—far from reaching out only across national boundaries within the subsystem, IS militants have crafted a transnational media operation of remarkable scope, one that has drawn tens of thousands of recruits not only from the Middle East but also from Europe, the United States, and Asia.

scholarly journals Islam and the Constitutions in Newly Reformed Countries in the Middle East

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-163
Author(s):  
Daniel Hummel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Important Task ◽  
The People ◽  
The Arab Spring

The revolutions that started in Tunisia and spread to other countries in the Middle East have been dubbed the “Arab Spring.” Many countries in theMiddle East have been under the thumb of an oppressive dictator. After several decades of this oppression, the people in these countries have resistedthe continuance of this rule.As the smoke clears, the task of rebuilding and reforming the institutionsof government is the most important task ahead for those who demandedchange. The most important aspect of this change is the country’s constitution. The constitution of these countries must play the same role as the constitution in the United States. These constitutions must embody the change the reformers desire and be as inclusive as possible to be legitimate.One of the concerns of some international observers is the rise of theprominence of Islamic conservative parties. Another concern is the inclusionin the articles of the proposed new constitutions of these countriesarticles that declare Islam and Islamic law as the foundation of the constitutions ...

scholarly journals A New Perspective on Middle-East Democracy

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Elfan Kaukab
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
The United States ◽  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Us ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
The Arab Spring

Spring 2011 was a historic year in the Middle East and was momentum for the rise of people power to overthrow the long-reigning authoritarian regime. This event is known as The Arab Spring. However, on the way, the Arab dream did not come easy. This book tries to capture the opportunities and challenges of democratization in Arab countries after the Arab Spring. There are three countries, namely Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria, which are the focus of this book's study. The interests of the United States (US) emerged as the trigger for democratization efforts. The US does not hesitate to hinder democratization in a country with leaders who are not pro-Western. It is not surprising that democratization in Arab countries is only seen as a US political project to safeguard its national interests. From this book, we can reflect on the situation in Indonesia. Does that also happen?

scholarly journals Mapping the Obama administration's response to the Arab Spring

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria do Céu de Pinho Ferreira Pinto
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Arab Spring

When the Arab Spring broke out, the United States was in a quandary over how to handle the crisis in its attempt to balance its moral obligations and ideals without undercutting its strategic interests and those of its close allies. Flaws in US diplomatic approach have contributed to one of the most serious foreign policy crisis for a US administration to date with consequential upheaval and erosion of the US-built balance of power. The reactions and policy responses of the Obama administration highlight the difficulties in grasping with the new reality in the Middle East and in enunciating a policy platform that could combine American interests and values.

Delegitimizing al-Qaida: Defeating an “Army Whose Men Love Death”

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Mark Long ◽  
Alex S. Wilner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Theoretical Investigation ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
The United States ◽  
Recruitment Tool ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
New Social Order

Deterring terrorism is no longer a provocative idea, but missing from the contemporary theoretical investigation is a discussion of how delegitimization might be used to manipulate and shape militant behavior. Delegitimization suggests that states and substate actors can use the religious or ideological rationale that informs terrorist behavior to influence it. In the case of al-Qaida, the organization has carefully elaborated a robust metanarrative that has proved to be remarkably successful as a recruitment tool, in identity formation for adherents, as public apologia and hermeneutic, and as a weapon of war—the so-called media jihad. In the wake of the upheaval of the Arab Spring, al-Qaida and its adherents have redeployed the narrative, promising a new social order to replace the region's anciens régimes. Delegitimization would have the United States and its friends and allies use al-Qaida's own narrative against it by targeting and degrading the ideological motivation that guides support for and participation in terrorism.

scholarly journals The Arab Spring and the Egypt-United States of America’s Relations in Post-Revolution Era

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Taghdar ◽  
Zaid Ahmad ◽  
Abdolreza Alami
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Main Approach ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Administrative Elites ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Aid Policy

Egypt has experienced drastic changes in government recently. Studying these changes can lead to more understanding of the revolutions caused by the Arab Spring in other countries and can also explain the hegemonic conduct of the United States. This qualitative study was conducted through 1) reviewing scholarly published documents and other relevant official news resources that were published on the relationship between Egypt and the United States after the 2011 revolution, and 2) interviewing 12 key informants (ethnic, academic, and administrative elites). Qualitative content analysis was the main approach to data analysis. The results with a focus on both Obama’s administration and Trumps’ administration revealed that Egypt and the United States relations were affected due to Egypt’s anti-western agenda. Later, the United States’ main strategies in maintaining its hegemony in Egypt were discussed. Among these factors, 1) the United States’ aid policy, 2) the United States’ tolerance policy, 3) aborting FJP, 4) imposing the western culture, and 4) the United States’ support of street protests can be mentioned. Areas for further research are discussed at the end of the study.

In the name of the national interests: Foreign policy of Saudi Arabia after the Arab Spring

2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-161
Author(s):  
G. G. Kosach
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The One ◽  
The Arab Spring

The paper examines the evolution of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy in the context of wider changes in the Middle East and in the Arab world triggered by the Arab Spring. The author argues that during this decade the Kingdom’s foreign policy has witnessed a fundamental transformation: the very essence of the Saudi foreign policy course has changed signifi cantly as the political es-tablishment has substantially revised its approaches to the country’s role in the region and in the world. Before 2011, Saudi Arabia — the land of the ‘Two Holy Mosques’ — positioned itself as a representative of the international Muslim community and in pursuing its foreign policy relied primarily on the religious authority and fi nancial capabilities. However, according to Saudi Arabia’s leaders, the Arab Spring has plunged the region into chaos and has bolstered the infl uence of various extremist groups and movements, which required a signifi cant adjustment of traditional political approaches. Saudi Arabia, more explicit than ever before, has declared itself as a nation state, as a regional leader possessing its own interests beyond the abstract ‘Muslim Ummah’. However, the author stresses that these new political ambitions do not imply a complete break with the previous practice. For example, the containment of Iran not only remains the cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy, but has become even more severe. The paper shows that it is this opposition to Iran, which is now justifi ed on the basis of protecting the national interests, that predetermines the nature and the specifi c content of contemporary Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy including interaction with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), approaches towards the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict, combating terrorism, and relations with the United States. In that regard, the transformation of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy has, on the one hand, opened up new opportunities for strengthening the Kingdom’s interaction with Israel, but, at the same time, has increased tensions within the framework of strategic partnership with the United States. The author concludes that currently Saudi Arabia is facing a challenge of diversifying its foreign policy in order to increase its international profi le and political subjectivity.

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.

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