Fred Lawson | Mills College at Northeastern University (original) (raw)

Papers by Fred Lawson

Middle East Policy, Sep 1, 2022

Kuwait has forged a strong bilateral security alignment with the United States over the past thre... more Kuwait has forged a strong bilateral security alignment with the United States over the past three decades. But it has also pursued foreign policies that run counter to expressed American objectives and priorities in the Gulf and the broader Middle East. Why this happens can best be explained in terms of a combination of shifts in the overt US commitment to the partnership and changes in the level of threat in the region. In the years following the 1990-91 Gulf War, Kuwait and the United States forged a strong bilateral security alignment. This partnership has nevertheless accompanied Kuwaiti foreign-policy initiatives that run counter to expressed American objectives and priorities, not only in the Gulf but also in the broader Middle East. Relations between the two states consequently exhibit a degree of incompatibility that seems incongruous given the strength of the underlying connection. The paradox that arises between Kuwait's firm alignment with the United States and its evident proclivity to challenge American preferences can best be explicated in terms of the conjunction between shifts in the level of overt US commitment to the partnership and changes in the regional environment in which it operates.

Global Change, Peace & Security, Apr 18, 2017

In the past half-decade, the role of the Gulf in the international political economy has changed ... more In the past half-decade, the role of the Gulf in the international political economy has changed dramatically. The region's position as a supplier of world hydrocarbons has slipped, even as local consumption of oil and gas continues to expand. Gulf investments have shifted from the industrialized countries to the Middle East and North Africa. Saudi Arabia no longer exercises disproportionate influence in the Group of 20. Finally, relations with the People's Republic of China and India have become truly interdependent, which gives the Gulf the capacity to exercise leverage over these two rising powers, despite its diminished position in global affairs.

International Politics, Aug 6, 2015

Iran's relations with surrounding states exhibit a shift from unremitting radicalism to pervasive... more Iran's relations with surrounding states exhibit a shift from unremitting radicalism to pervasive moderation, a transformation that is usually explained in terms of changes in the Islamic Republic's domestic affairs. Yet the marked turn toward moderation may equally result from the dynamics of entrapment and pre-emptive realignment, which are inherent in alliance politics under conditions of anarchy. Attempts by Syria to strengthen ties to Iran set the stage for the 2006 Hizbullah-Israel war in Lebanon. Policy makers in Tehran recoiled from the fighting, opening the door to rapprochement with Ankara. Improved relations between Iran and Turkey both distanced the Islamic Republic from Iraq and prompted Iranian leaders to make unprecedented overtures to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Iran's moves to conciliate Turkey and the KRG gained momentum as the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant seized territory across northern Syria and western Iraq. Nevertheless, ongoing Turkish initiatives in the Caucasus have created unpalatable strategic choices for the Islamic Republic, which put Tehran's continued commitment to external moderation in jeopardy.

European Foreign Affairs Review

Current scholarship on European Union-Middle East relations has contributed little to ongoing the... more Current scholarship on European Union-Middle East relations has contributed little to ongoing theoretical debates in the academic discipline of international relations. Yet several influential research programmes regarding world politics would benefit from incorporating events and trends involving these two regions. In particular, conceptual controversies regarding regional and global security, the diffusion of regional identities, interregionalism and overlapping regionalism and the politics of empire will be advanced when specialists concentrate on analytical puzzles, and move beyond descriptive, evaluative and prescriptive accounts. Security, interregionalism, overlapping regionalism, empire, European Union

Comillas Journal of International Relations, 2016

Relations between Qatar and the United States constitute a mutually beneficial form of bilateral ... more Relations between Qatar and the United States constitute a mutually beneficial form of bilateral hierarchy that can usefully be considered to be a protectorate. The dynamics inherent in protectorates put the protector state in a disproportionately strong position early on, and place severe constraints on the activities of the protected partner. As time passes, this initial distribution of leverage shifts and the protected state becomes able to undertake foreign policy initiatives that contravene, and sometimes even cause damage to, the security interests of the protector. At the same time, the protected state's capacity to engage in autonomous, self-interested action in the regional and global arenas is shaped by the level of threat that it confronts from surrounding states. Taken together, these two factors offer a cogent explanation for recent trends in Qatari diplomacy.

American Political Science Review, 1976

I think Professor Beck's criticisms very well taken. Indeed, they reflect certain caveats which I... more I think Professor Beck's criticisms very well taken. Indeed, they reflect certain caveats which I myself noted in my article. While his reservations about the analysis are appropriate, however, the vigor with which he presses them suggests that he has, in part, missed the point of the essay. After three paragraphs which reasonably accurately summarize "The Supreme Court and Critical Elections," Professor Beck's central point (italicized, lest the unwary reader miss it) is made at the beginning of his fourth paragraph. I agree with that point. But I fail to see how it materially adds anything to what I wrote (p. 807):. .. The use here of some years before the elections which brought new coalitions to power as part of the realignment phases may very probably have artificially deflated the indexes for the critical periods.. .. Perhaps future research might attempt to determine the year of the ascendancy of the new coalition.. .. Such attempts to determine precise years of ascendancy, however, not only must contend with the scholarly contentiousness about which elections actually involved realignments but also will be liable to the charge that they have defined the critical periods so as to inflate the statistical results.. .. If the results reported here can be achieved by using realignment phases not inherently favorable to the thesis, they may perhaps be considered to be even more persuasive.

Throughout the turbulent history of the Levant the 'Alawis - a secretive, resilient and ancie... more Throughout the turbulent history of the Levant the 'Alawis - a secretive, resilient and ancient Muslim sect - have aroused suspicion and animosity, including accusations of religious heresy. More recently they have been tarred with the brush of political separatism and com--plicity in the excesses of the Assad regime, claims that have gained greater traction since the onset of the Syrian uprising and subse--quent devastating civil war. The contributors to this book provide a com--plex and nuanced reading of Syria's 'Alawi communities - from loyalist gangs (Shabiha) to outspoken critics of the regime. Drawing upon wide-ranging research that examines the historic, political and social dynamics of the 'Alawi and the Syrian state, the current social identities, and relations to the Ba'ath party, the Syrian state and the military apparatus. The analysis also extends to Leba--non with a focus on the embattled 'Alawi community of Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli and state rela--tions with Hizballah amid the current crisis.

Violent Non-state Actors and the Syrian Civil War, 2017

Recent scholarship on civil wars demonstrates the importance of the security dilemma as a motivat... more Recent scholarship on civil wars demonstrates the importance of the security dilemma as a motivating force that drives the interaction of rival communities whenever state authority collapses. Less well understood is the ancillary dynamic that students of international relations call a conflict spiral, that is, the marked escalation that occurs as antagonistic actors take steps to protect themselves by implementing increasingly coercive and more violent security-producing programs. Conflict spirals do not always result from security dilemmas, but if they do take shape they raise the stakes of the contest and make conflict management increasingly difficult. Insight into the workings of conflict spirals can be gained from a detailed exploration of the third and fourth phases of the popular uprising that broke out in Syria in the spring of 2011. During these months, radical Islamist forces competed against one another by undertaking more sustained and indiscriminate attacks against minority communities across the northern and northeastern provinces. The attacks strengthened the radical wing of the country’s Kurdish national movement, and sparked the emergence not only of an armed formation affiliated with that faction but also of militias drawn from other minorities. Fighting among these disparate forces entailed a sharp escalation in the severity and extent of the civil war, and complicated the prospects for a negotiated resolution to the conflict.

Comillas journal of international relations, 2016

espanolLas relacion entre Catar y los Estados Unidos constituye un tipo de jerarquia bilateral mu... more espanolLas relacion entre Catar y los Estados Unidos constituye un tipo de jerarquia bilateral mutuamente beneficiosa, que seria util considerar como si fuera un protectorado. La dinamica inherente a los protectorados situa en el inicio al estado protector en una posicion de fuerza desproporcionada, e impone severas restricciones sobre las actividades del estado socio. Con el paso del tiempo, esta distribucion inicial de beneficios cambia, y el estado socio es capaz de tomar iniciativas en politica exterior que pueden contravenir, e incluso danar, los intereses de seguridad del protector. Simultaneamente, la capacidad del estado protegido de iniciar acciones autonomas e interesadas en las escenas regional y global esta determinada por el nivel de amenaza al que se enfrenta proveniente de los estados colindantes. Tomados en conjunto, estos dos factores ofrecen una explicacion convincente a las ultimas tendencias de la diplomacia catari. EnglishRelations between Qatar and the United S...

Journal of Arabian Studies, 2017

Of the four books reviewed in this issue, the first, a wide-ranging volume on the people, ports a... more Of the four books reviewed in this issue, the first, a wide-ranging volume on the people, ports and history of the Gulf, is, unusually, reviewed by two separate reviewers. The editors felt it might be worth, on this occasion, in light of the multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural and Gulf-wide focus of the volume, to invite two reviewers from different disciplinary and geographic backgrounds to offer their perspective. Given the complementary reviews that resulted, it was decided to publish both.

Journal of Peace Research, 1983

... DOI: 10.1177/002234338302000403 1983 20: 311 Journal of Peace Research Fred H. Lawson Using P... more ... DOI: 10.1177/002234338302000403 1983 20: 311 Journal of Peace Research Fred H. Lawson Using Positive Sanctions to End International Conflicts: Iran and the Arab Gulf Countries Published by: ... Conflicts: Iran and the Arab Gulf Countries FRED H. LAWSON Dept. ...

International Organization, 1983

Mercantilist explanations for the development of international trading orders have assumed that c... more Mercantilist explanations for the development of international trading orders have assumed that changes in peripheral areas during the 19th century corresponded with developments among the largest and most advanced countries of the period. Relatively free trade, however, was not the rule at three important ports along the Arabian coast when Great Britain was in a hegemonic position in the area. Rather, British predominance in this part of the world was generally associated with increasing closure in commercial affairs at these three ports. This finding throws doubt on both the collective goods logic and the notions of “the imperialism of free trade” that have been appropriated by writers such as Gilpin, Kindleberger, Krasner, and Keohane. Two alternative ways of explaining the pattern of trading relations at these three ports are sketched, and three ways of amending the mercantilist position to account for these data are suggested.

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2009

... 1998); Henner Fuertig. Iran's Rivalry with Saudi Arabia between the Gulf... more ... 1998); Henner Fuertig. Iran's Rivalry with Saudi Arabia between the Gulf Wars (Reading: Ithaca Press, 2002); and Elham Manea, Regional Politics in the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen (London: Saqi, 2005). 39 ME Ahrari ...

Politics, Religion & Ideology

Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring

Edited by Holger Albrecht, Aurel Croissant, and Fred H. Lawson 312 pages | 6 x 9 | 2 illus. Cloth... more Edited by Holger Albrecht, Aurel Croissant, and Fred H. Lawson 312 pages | 6 x 9 | 2 illus. Cloth Sep 2016 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4854-8 | 65.00s∣£42.50EbookSep2016∣ISBN978−0−8122−9324−1∣65.00s | £42.50 Ebook Sep 2016 | ISBN 978-0-8122-9324-1 | 65.00s∣£42.50EbookSep2016∣ISBN978−0−8122−9324−1∣65.00s | £42.50 "An excellent contribution to the literature on civil-military relations in the Arab world. The strength of the book rests in the diversity of the essays, which combined enable the volume to cover more ground, and in more depth, than a single-authored work ever could."—Jeffrey Martini, The RAND Corporation "Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring is a much needed attempt to think systematically about the changing role of militaries in the Arab world and how they fit within efforts to reinforce regime security, democratization, and state stability."—Ariel Ahram, Virginia Tech University Following the popular uprisings that swept across the Arab world beginning in 2010, armed forces remained pivotal actors in politics throughout the region. As demonstrators started to challenge entrenched autocratic rulers in Tunis, Cairo, Sana'a, and Manama, the militaries stormed back into the limelight and largely determined whether any given ruler survived the protests. In Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen, senior officers pulled away from their presidents, while in Algeria, Bahrain, and Syria, they did not. More important, military officers took command in shaping the new order and conflict trajectories throughout that region. Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring explores the central problems surrounding the role of armed forces in the contemporary Arab world. How and why do military apparatuses actively intervene in politics? What explains the fact that in some countries, military officers and rank-and-file take steps to defend an incumbent, while in others they defect and refrain from suppressing popular protest? What are the institutional legacies of the military's engagement during, and in the immediate aftermath of, mass uprisings? Focusing on these questions, editors Holger Albrecht, Aurel Croissant, and Fred H. Lawson have organized Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring into three sections. The first employs case studies to make comparisons within and between regions; the second examines military engagements in the Arab uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria; and the third looks at political developments following the cresting of the protest wave in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and the Gulf. The collection promotes better understanding not only of the particular history of military engagement in the Arab Spring but also of significant aspects of the transformation of political-military relations in other regions of the contemporary world. Contributors: Holger Albrecht, Risa A. Brooks, Cherine Chams El-Dine, Virginie Collombier, Aurel Croissant, Philippe Droz-Vincent, Kevin Koehler, Fred H. Lawson, Shana Marshall, Dorothy Ohl, David Pion-Berlin, Tobias Selge, Robert Springborg. Holger Albrecht is Associate Professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo. Aurel Croissant is Professor of Political Science at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. Fred H. Lawson is Professor of Government at Mills College.

Journal of Arabian Studies

Global Change, Peace & Security

Why has the relationship between the state and the Islamic revivalist movement known commonly as ... more Why has the relationship between the state and the Islamic revivalist movement known commonly as 'Wahhabism' persisted under Saudi rule since 1744? In Securitising Identity Ben Rich traces the symbiosis between these two entities across three distinct periods of Saudi rule over the past four centuries, showcasing the consistent conditions, patterns of behaviour and political logics that surround their interplay. Collectively, these reveal a recurrent tendency in which the state paradoxically offers protections to the preservation of revivalism while generating threats against this same religious identity in order to ensure its hold on power. Such a pattern, he argues, not only transcends all discrete periods of Saudi rule, but also manifests regardless of the conservative or progressive nature of a particular administration. Understanding such a pattern not only helps to explain why Saudi Arabia today remains a source of regional sectarianism, but also how such an idiomatic ideology has endured…

Global Change, Peace & Security

Middle East Policy, Sep 1, 2022

Kuwait has forged a strong bilateral security alignment with the United States over the past thre... more Kuwait has forged a strong bilateral security alignment with the United States over the past three decades. But it has also pursued foreign policies that run counter to expressed American objectives and priorities in the Gulf and the broader Middle East. Why this happens can best be explained in terms of a combination of shifts in the overt US commitment to the partnership and changes in the level of threat in the region. In the years following the 1990-91 Gulf War, Kuwait and the United States forged a strong bilateral security alignment. This partnership has nevertheless accompanied Kuwaiti foreign-policy initiatives that run counter to expressed American objectives and priorities, not only in the Gulf but also in the broader Middle East. Relations between the two states consequently exhibit a degree of incompatibility that seems incongruous given the strength of the underlying connection. The paradox that arises between Kuwait's firm alignment with the United States and its evident proclivity to challenge American preferences can best be explicated in terms of the conjunction between shifts in the level of overt US commitment to the partnership and changes in the regional environment in which it operates.

Global Change, Peace & Security, Apr 18, 2017

In the past half-decade, the role of the Gulf in the international political economy has changed ... more In the past half-decade, the role of the Gulf in the international political economy has changed dramatically. The region's position as a supplier of world hydrocarbons has slipped, even as local consumption of oil and gas continues to expand. Gulf investments have shifted from the industrialized countries to the Middle East and North Africa. Saudi Arabia no longer exercises disproportionate influence in the Group of 20. Finally, relations with the People's Republic of China and India have become truly interdependent, which gives the Gulf the capacity to exercise leverage over these two rising powers, despite its diminished position in global affairs.

International Politics, Aug 6, 2015

Iran's relations with surrounding states exhibit a shift from unremitting radicalism to pervasive... more Iran's relations with surrounding states exhibit a shift from unremitting radicalism to pervasive moderation, a transformation that is usually explained in terms of changes in the Islamic Republic's domestic affairs. Yet the marked turn toward moderation may equally result from the dynamics of entrapment and pre-emptive realignment, which are inherent in alliance politics under conditions of anarchy. Attempts by Syria to strengthen ties to Iran set the stage for the 2006 Hizbullah-Israel war in Lebanon. Policy makers in Tehran recoiled from the fighting, opening the door to rapprochement with Ankara. Improved relations between Iran and Turkey both distanced the Islamic Republic from Iraq and prompted Iranian leaders to make unprecedented overtures to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Iran's moves to conciliate Turkey and the KRG gained momentum as the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant seized territory across northern Syria and western Iraq. Nevertheless, ongoing Turkish initiatives in the Caucasus have created unpalatable strategic choices for the Islamic Republic, which put Tehran's continued commitment to external moderation in jeopardy.

European Foreign Affairs Review

Current scholarship on European Union-Middle East relations has contributed little to ongoing the... more Current scholarship on European Union-Middle East relations has contributed little to ongoing theoretical debates in the academic discipline of international relations. Yet several influential research programmes regarding world politics would benefit from incorporating events and trends involving these two regions. In particular, conceptual controversies regarding regional and global security, the diffusion of regional identities, interregionalism and overlapping regionalism and the politics of empire will be advanced when specialists concentrate on analytical puzzles, and move beyond descriptive, evaluative and prescriptive accounts. Security, interregionalism, overlapping regionalism, empire, European Union

Comillas Journal of International Relations, 2016

Relations between Qatar and the United States constitute a mutually beneficial form of bilateral ... more Relations between Qatar and the United States constitute a mutually beneficial form of bilateral hierarchy that can usefully be considered to be a protectorate. The dynamics inherent in protectorates put the protector state in a disproportionately strong position early on, and place severe constraints on the activities of the protected partner. As time passes, this initial distribution of leverage shifts and the protected state becomes able to undertake foreign policy initiatives that contravene, and sometimes even cause damage to, the security interests of the protector. At the same time, the protected state's capacity to engage in autonomous, self-interested action in the regional and global arenas is shaped by the level of threat that it confronts from surrounding states. Taken together, these two factors offer a cogent explanation for recent trends in Qatari diplomacy.

American Political Science Review, 1976

I think Professor Beck's criticisms very well taken. Indeed, they reflect certain caveats which I... more I think Professor Beck's criticisms very well taken. Indeed, they reflect certain caveats which I myself noted in my article. While his reservations about the analysis are appropriate, however, the vigor with which he presses them suggests that he has, in part, missed the point of the essay. After three paragraphs which reasonably accurately summarize "The Supreme Court and Critical Elections," Professor Beck's central point (italicized, lest the unwary reader miss it) is made at the beginning of his fourth paragraph. I agree with that point. But I fail to see how it materially adds anything to what I wrote (p. 807):. .. The use here of some years before the elections which brought new coalitions to power as part of the realignment phases may very probably have artificially deflated the indexes for the critical periods.. .. Perhaps future research might attempt to determine the year of the ascendancy of the new coalition.. .. Such attempts to determine precise years of ascendancy, however, not only must contend with the scholarly contentiousness about which elections actually involved realignments but also will be liable to the charge that they have defined the critical periods so as to inflate the statistical results.. .. If the results reported here can be achieved by using realignment phases not inherently favorable to the thesis, they may perhaps be considered to be even more persuasive.

Throughout the turbulent history of the Levant the 'Alawis - a secretive, resilient and ancie... more Throughout the turbulent history of the Levant the 'Alawis - a secretive, resilient and ancient Muslim sect - have aroused suspicion and animosity, including accusations of religious heresy. More recently they have been tarred with the brush of political separatism and com--plicity in the excesses of the Assad regime, claims that have gained greater traction since the onset of the Syrian uprising and subse--quent devastating civil war. The contributors to this book provide a com--plex and nuanced reading of Syria's 'Alawi communities - from loyalist gangs (Shabiha) to outspoken critics of the regime. Drawing upon wide-ranging research that examines the historic, political and social dynamics of the 'Alawi and the Syrian state, the current social identities, and relations to the Ba'ath party, the Syrian state and the military apparatus. The analysis also extends to Leba--non with a focus on the embattled 'Alawi community of Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli and state rela--tions with Hizballah amid the current crisis.

Violent Non-state Actors and the Syrian Civil War, 2017

Recent scholarship on civil wars demonstrates the importance of the security dilemma as a motivat... more Recent scholarship on civil wars demonstrates the importance of the security dilemma as a motivating force that drives the interaction of rival communities whenever state authority collapses. Less well understood is the ancillary dynamic that students of international relations call a conflict spiral, that is, the marked escalation that occurs as antagonistic actors take steps to protect themselves by implementing increasingly coercive and more violent security-producing programs. Conflict spirals do not always result from security dilemmas, but if they do take shape they raise the stakes of the contest and make conflict management increasingly difficult. Insight into the workings of conflict spirals can be gained from a detailed exploration of the third and fourth phases of the popular uprising that broke out in Syria in the spring of 2011. During these months, radical Islamist forces competed against one another by undertaking more sustained and indiscriminate attacks against minority communities across the northern and northeastern provinces. The attacks strengthened the radical wing of the country’s Kurdish national movement, and sparked the emergence not only of an armed formation affiliated with that faction but also of militias drawn from other minorities. Fighting among these disparate forces entailed a sharp escalation in the severity and extent of the civil war, and complicated the prospects for a negotiated resolution to the conflict.

Comillas journal of international relations, 2016

espanolLas relacion entre Catar y los Estados Unidos constituye un tipo de jerarquia bilateral mu... more espanolLas relacion entre Catar y los Estados Unidos constituye un tipo de jerarquia bilateral mutuamente beneficiosa, que seria util considerar como si fuera un protectorado. La dinamica inherente a los protectorados situa en el inicio al estado protector en una posicion de fuerza desproporcionada, e impone severas restricciones sobre las actividades del estado socio. Con el paso del tiempo, esta distribucion inicial de beneficios cambia, y el estado socio es capaz de tomar iniciativas en politica exterior que pueden contravenir, e incluso danar, los intereses de seguridad del protector. Simultaneamente, la capacidad del estado protegido de iniciar acciones autonomas e interesadas en las escenas regional y global esta determinada por el nivel de amenaza al que se enfrenta proveniente de los estados colindantes. Tomados en conjunto, estos dos factores ofrecen una explicacion convincente a las ultimas tendencias de la diplomacia catari. EnglishRelations between Qatar and the United S...

Journal of Arabian Studies, 2017

Of the four books reviewed in this issue, the first, a wide-ranging volume on the people, ports a... more Of the four books reviewed in this issue, the first, a wide-ranging volume on the people, ports and history of the Gulf, is, unusually, reviewed by two separate reviewers. The editors felt it might be worth, on this occasion, in light of the multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural and Gulf-wide focus of the volume, to invite two reviewers from different disciplinary and geographic backgrounds to offer their perspective. Given the complementary reviews that resulted, it was decided to publish both.

Journal of Peace Research, 1983

... DOI: 10.1177/002234338302000403 1983 20: 311 Journal of Peace Research Fred H. Lawson Using P... more ... DOI: 10.1177/002234338302000403 1983 20: 311 Journal of Peace Research Fred H. Lawson Using Positive Sanctions to End International Conflicts: Iran and the Arab Gulf Countries Published by: ... Conflicts: Iran and the Arab Gulf Countries FRED H. LAWSON Dept. ...

International Organization, 1983

Mercantilist explanations for the development of international trading orders have assumed that c... more Mercantilist explanations for the development of international trading orders have assumed that changes in peripheral areas during the 19th century corresponded with developments among the largest and most advanced countries of the period. Relatively free trade, however, was not the rule at three important ports along the Arabian coast when Great Britain was in a hegemonic position in the area. Rather, British predominance in this part of the world was generally associated with increasing closure in commercial affairs at these three ports. This finding throws doubt on both the collective goods logic and the notions of “the imperialism of free trade” that have been appropriated by writers such as Gilpin, Kindleberger, Krasner, and Keohane. Two alternative ways of explaining the pattern of trading relations at these three ports are sketched, and three ways of amending the mercantilist position to account for these data are suggested.

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2009

... 1998); Henner Fuertig. Iran's Rivalry with Saudi Arabia between the Gulf... more ... 1998); Henner Fuertig. Iran's Rivalry with Saudi Arabia between the Gulf Wars (Reading: Ithaca Press, 2002); and Elham Manea, Regional Politics in the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen (London: Saqi, 2005). 39 ME Ahrari ...

Politics, Religion & Ideology

Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring

Edited by Holger Albrecht, Aurel Croissant, and Fred H. Lawson 312 pages | 6 x 9 | 2 illus. Cloth... more Edited by Holger Albrecht, Aurel Croissant, and Fred H. Lawson 312 pages | 6 x 9 | 2 illus. Cloth Sep 2016 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4854-8 | 65.00s∣£42.50EbookSep2016∣ISBN978−0−8122−9324−1∣65.00s | £42.50 Ebook Sep 2016 | ISBN 978-0-8122-9324-1 | 65.00s∣£42.50EbookSep2016∣ISBN978−0−8122−9324−1∣65.00s | £42.50 "An excellent contribution to the literature on civil-military relations in the Arab world. The strength of the book rests in the diversity of the essays, which combined enable the volume to cover more ground, and in more depth, than a single-authored work ever could."—Jeffrey Martini, The RAND Corporation "Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring is a much needed attempt to think systematically about the changing role of militaries in the Arab world and how they fit within efforts to reinforce regime security, democratization, and state stability."—Ariel Ahram, Virginia Tech University Following the popular uprisings that swept across the Arab world beginning in 2010, armed forces remained pivotal actors in politics throughout the region. As demonstrators started to challenge entrenched autocratic rulers in Tunis, Cairo, Sana'a, and Manama, the militaries stormed back into the limelight and largely determined whether any given ruler survived the protests. In Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen, senior officers pulled away from their presidents, while in Algeria, Bahrain, and Syria, they did not. More important, military officers took command in shaping the new order and conflict trajectories throughout that region. Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring explores the central problems surrounding the role of armed forces in the contemporary Arab world. How and why do military apparatuses actively intervene in politics? What explains the fact that in some countries, military officers and rank-and-file take steps to defend an incumbent, while in others they defect and refrain from suppressing popular protest? What are the institutional legacies of the military's engagement during, and in the immediate aftermath of, mass uprisings? Focusing on these questions, editors Holger Albrecht, Aurel Croissant, and Fred H. Lawson have organized Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring into three sections. The first employs case studies to make comparisons within and between regions; the second examines military engagements in the Arab uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria; and the third looks at political developments following the cresting of the protest wave in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and the Gulf. The collection promotes better understanding not only of the particular history of military engagement in the Arab Spring but also of significant aspects of the transformation of political-military relations in other regions of the contemporary world. Contributors: Holger Albrecht, Risa A. Brooks, Cherine Chams El-Dine, Virginie Collombier, Aurel Croissant, Philippe Droz-Vincent, Kevin Koehler, Fred H. Lawson, Shana Marshall, Dorothy Ohl, David Pion-Berlin, Tobias Selge, Robert Springborg. Holger Albrecht is Associate Professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo. Aurel Croissant is Professor of Political Science at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. Fred H. Lawson is Professor of Government at Mills College.

Journal of Arabian Studies

Global Change, Peace & Security

Why has the relationship between the state and the Islamic revivalist movement known commonly as ... more Why has the relationship between the state and the Islamic revivalist movement known commonly as 'Wahhabism' persisted under Saudi rule since 1744? In Securitising Identity Ben Rich traces the symbiosis between these two entities across three distinct periods of Saudi rule over the past four centuries, showcasing the consistent conditions, patterns of behaviour and political logics that surround their interplay. Collectively, these reveal a recurrent tendency in which the state paradoxically offers protections to the preservation of revivalism while generating threats against this same religious identity in order to ensure its hold on power. Such a pattern, he argues, not only transcends all discrete periods of Saudi rule, but also manifests regardless of the conservative or progressive nature of a particular administration. Understanding such a pattern not only helps to explain why Saudi Arabia today remains a source of regional sectarianism, but also how such an idiomatic ideology has endured…

Global Change, Peace & Security