Stability and Change in the Modern Middle East

by Selvik, Kjetil; Stenslie, Stig

• ISBN13: 9781848855892
• ISBN10: 1848855893
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-02-15
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris

Summary

In this ground-breaking book, aimed at new generation of students, Stig Stenslie and Kjetil Selvik provide a new introduction to the contemporary Middle East, using topical questions about stability and change as a way of interrogating the politics, economics and history of the region. How have regimes from North Africa to the Gulf perpetuated themselves in spite of the weakness of the Western-style state, the Islamist trend, and the destabilising effects of war and terrorism? What strategies have states used to control their societies, and how have both states and societies adapted over time? Both an accessible reference resource and a thought-provoking analysis,Stability and Change in the Modern Middle Eastintroduces the key theoretical concepts for understanding the region and the freshest thinking on debates surrounding them, and brings the empirical material in to sharp focus through its unique thematic approach.

Author Biography

Kjetil Selvik is Associate Professor at the University of Oslo and researcher at the FAFO Institute of Applied International Studies. He has broad teaching experience on Middle East-related topics and holds a PhD from L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris.

Stig Stenslie is Senior Analyst at the Norwegian Defence Staff, working on Middle East politics, energy security, and other issues. He earned his PhD in Political Science at the University of Oslo, where he has also been a lecturer.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments * Introduction * Troubled Heritage* Society, Identity, State * Class * Ethnicity * Ideology and Legitimacy * Reformism * Islamism * The Organisation of State Power * Monarchies * Republics * Scenarios of Change * Democratisation * Breakdown * Conclusion