{"title":"Rethinking the Carter Doctrine and its Geopolitical Implications","authors":"Gregory Noth","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.3","url":null,"abstract":"This article combines insights from constructivism with historical analysis to argue that the US military engagement in the Gulf, beginning in the 1980s, was primarily driven by the changed roles of two actors: Iran after the Islamic Revolution and the United States attempting to regain its role as a global superpower following the Vietnam War. It argues that the year 1979 constitutes what constructivists deem a “critical juncture,” in which America’s response to three events—the Iranian Revolution/hostage crisis; the siege of Mecca’s Grand Mosque; and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan—helped to redefine the Gulf’s security architecture and made the region more insecure. It ends with a close examination of US participation in the Iran–Iraq War and the long-term implications of the Carter Doctrine’s changing logic.","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"51 1","pages":"3-23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84666532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Changes in Turkish Regional Policy from an Arab Perspective in the aftermath of Arab Uprisings","authors":"Shaimaa Magued","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.39","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.39","url":null,"abstract":"This study presents Arab perspectives on changes in Turkish policy in the Middle East from 2010 until 2020. It examines how Arab countries perceive changes in Turkish regional policy after the 2010–11 uprisings. Unlike Western and Turkish literature that has highlighted identity–security combinations behind changes in Turkish regional policy, this study argues that the Arabic research literature provides a different perspective. Based on a foreign policy analysis concept of operational milieu, this study argues that Arab countries negatively perceive the changes in Turkish policy due to structural transformations in the region during and after the uprisings that paved the way for the reemergence of psychological barriers between both sides.","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"13 1","pages":"39-61"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87603545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Armed Conflict in Developing a Subculture of Hate and its Consequences","authors":"M. O. Attir","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.62","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.62","url":null,"abstract":"When Libyan youth took to the streets in a populist uprising in 2011, which became known as the 17 February 2011 revolution, many Libyans thought they were on the verge of removing one of the most vicious dictators of the twentieth century, Muammar Gaddafi, and building a new democratic state. Gaddafi responded forcefully, hoping to eliminate the movement in its infancy. But clashes between Gaddafi’s forces and those who took to streets soon turned into a civil war, during which Libyan society was split into two major groups: one supporting the uprising, the other the regime. In addition to armed conflict, these warring groups regarded each other with contempt, generated slander, and accused each other of betrayal, using words and phrases in a discourse of hate speech. This vocabulary of hate manifested in demonstrations and social media. Eight months later Gaddafi was dead, and the political system he built over four decades collapsed. But the war did not stop: yesterday’s allies became enemies, competing for political and economic gains. The number of contesting groups expanded as different clans, tribes, and cities joined the fray for personal gains. Strategies and techniques first used during the Libyan uprising were applied in the civil war, and are still manifest today. Every militia has a Facebook page, owns a television station, or has access to one. These media have been widely used to spread hate speech and to widen the rift between neighbors, creating refugees and internally displaced people. At least five cities became ghost towns during the uprising. When the concept of subculture first appeared in the sociological literature, it referred to members of a group that behaved according to a set of values and norms that deviated from those of mainstream society. Reviewing the language of militia members and their supporters that is articulated in social media or on television, it becomes obvious that such language has devolved into hate speech, creating social fragmentation among Libyans. This language has created a new set of values and norms in Libya that are different from preexisting mainstream Libyan culture. The new language has created a subculture of hate, which serves to sustain and accelerate continuing divisions within Libya, while further fragmenting the social fabric of the country.","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"133 1","pages":"62-76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85604672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gulf Cooperation Council","authors":"W. A. Alaradi, Hasan A. Johar","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.77","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.77","url":null,"abstract":"The evolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been one of slow progression and resistance to identity unification. Although historical legacies and common threats have brought the GCC countries together, yet the GCC faces some challenges in its aim of unification. This paper seeks to answer the following question: What are the structural and political challenges that impede the process of forming a unified regional Gulf identity (RGI)? The paper will tackle the historical aspect of the GCC and the challenges that faces the establishment of an RGI.","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"145 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76801165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Political Governance in Higher Education","authors":"Adnan ElAmine","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.97","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.97","url":null,"abstract":"This paper uses a model of governance in higher education, called the political model, that explains the role of universities as agencies of control and socialization, with a resulting repercussion on the quality of education. It compares this model with common models such as the academic, Napoleonic, market-oriented and managerial. It undertakes a review of ten published cases studies, each dealing with the oldest public universities in ten Arab countries, using a historical approach, from their inception until 2016. Among the ten public universities, nine fall into the category of the political model, while the tenth represents the Napoleonic model. The discussion opens the field for further research.","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"26 1","pages":"97-117"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85266522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review: Petition for a Manifesto for Rooting and Liberating Arab Sociology [Mishkat Mithaq Ta’sseel wa Tahrir ‘Ilm al Ijtima‘a al ‘Arabi], by Mahmoud Al Dhaouadi","authors":"Ziad Hafez","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.127","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"118 1","pages":"127-134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79537642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Security of the Middle East in Light of the Iranian Nuclear Deal","authors":"H. Maklad","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.2.24","url":null,"abstract":"Iran’s nuclear issue is considered one of the factors that has shaped the regional dynamic in the Arab Gulf sub-region because it is a major factor that might affect the perception of the other side players in the region, international, and regional actors. This matter represents a challenge to the security of the Gulf States. This started to change after the signing of the nuclear deal known as the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” (JCPOA), but then, upon the withdrawal of the Trump administration from this agreement in May 2018, regional alignments began to be reformed. It is within this context that this article tries to answer the following question: How does the American withdrawal from the JCPOA affect the stability in the region and change the stand of the Gulf countries and other regional states? This study is based on the following hypotheses. The withdrawal of the American administration from the nuclear deal, and its imposition of a “maximum pressure” policy, represented a turning point in the vision of the region and has again cast the shadow of the Cold War over the Gulf area. The American withdrawal from the nuclear deal is an independent variable, while the regional security system and the policy of the Gulf States toward this deal is the dependent variable.","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"127 1","pages":"24-38"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75827624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The New Coronavirus and World Geopolitical Transformations","authors":"Mouldi Benalya","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.1.18","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.1.18","url":null,"abstract":"This article studies the major transformations resulting from the global Covid-19 pandemic and how to examine it from the point of view of social philosophy through two sub-themes. The first relates to understanding the state of collective panic in Spain, France, and Italy. It is logical that fear of the pandemic should not turn into a state of collective panic in societies living under technologically advanced political systems, except in cases where these societies lack the basic elements on which social ties are based. Therefore, how do we understand the fragility of these social ties in European countries where mass panic is threatening daily life? The second sub-theme is related to the gestures and features of creating a new geopolitical map that has benefitted from the geopolitical retreat of the West to consolidate other political and regional alliances, mainly the Chinese initiative to tender aid to Italy at a time when other European countries turned their backs on and closed their borders with that European Union member state. How do we understand the contribution of the pandemic in forming new geopolitical alliances that could reset the balance of power in the world? We will observe the political behavior of countries that are supposed to be the first to have shown solidarity with Italy, Spain, and France, which are members of the European Union. We analyze the factors related to the erosion of the basis on which classical European society is based, where collective panic represents one of the manifestations of this disintegration. This panic, which was expressed in the rush to buy foodstuffs and the outbreak of a “toilet paper” buying fever that spread throughout Europe and the United States, saw shelves suddenly empty without a direct reason for this fact. Also, the study determines the relationship that binds these factors to the political disintegration expressed in the lack of solidarity from parts of the European Union with the three countries most affected by the pandemic. The second part of the study discusses how China will benefit from these political developments in the West with the prevalence of collective panic due to the pandemic, especially in the case of Italy, and how China is consolidating solidarity relations with these countries, drawing a map of new international political relations as part of its Silk Road project. Also, there is a discussion of the French philosopher Michel Foucault’s study on plague as a theoretical framework.","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86332883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Understanding the Rationales of Donor-Funded NGOs in Palestine","authors":"L. Suleiman","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.1.51","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.1.51","url":null,"abstract":"This article uses game theory as a conceptual approach to gain a holistic understanding of the aid policy of donors supporting Palestinian nongovernmental organizations (PNGOs). It asks how the work of donor-funded PNGOs has impacted Palestinian societal common good in general, and who are the winners and losers as a result of their work. Quantitative methods are used to capture the perceptions of the main actors in relation to the societal outcomes of PNGOs’ work and actors’ political and socio-economic payoffs in the occupied West Bank. Most of the findings align with much of the critical research on the negative societal outcomes of the aid policy to the NGO sector, and corroborate that the Palestinian public is a major loser in political terms and the least beneficiary in socio-economic terms.","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"479 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77409230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review: The World Community and the Arab Spring, edited by Cenap Kakmak and Ali Onur Ozcelik","authors":"Ahmed El Morabety","doi":"10.1525/CAA.2021.14.1.134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CAA.2021.14.1.134","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39004,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Arab Affairs","volume":"14 1","pages":"134-137"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75106933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}