A survey of recent Iranian books and journal articles reveals four important characteristics about how writers and academics in Iran generally perceive the concept of civil society. First and foremost, the notion of 'civil ...

More than two decades after its victory, Iran’s Islamic revolution has resulted in profound theoretical and theological consequences for Shiite political thought. This unfolding discourse especially as represented by the ...

Iran’s national-security policy is a victim of the factional debates and disagreements that characterize the Islamic Republic’s political system. ¬¬There are currently three main factions in Iran — the radicals, the ...

The Middle East's democracy deficit is a product of the patterns of political and economic development in the region. It is not because the region is predominantly Islamic or is somehow afflicted by purportedly undemocratic ...

Mehran Kamrava examines the current state of civil-military relations in the Middle East and looks at the dilemmas posted to governing elites because of the partial professionalization of the military. He demonstrates that ...

This article examines the limitations of the Middle Eastern state from a somewhat different angle, namely the nature of its relationship with a type of economic actor that may best be described as "semi-formal." These are ...

Qatar's much publicized liberalization campaign that began in the mid-1990s was a direct result of efforts by the new Amir, Shaykh Hamad, to compensate for his fragile base of support within the ruling Al Thani family by ...

The process of political consolidation in Azerbaijan has occurred largely under the auspices of an emerging system best described as "presidential monarchy." This has taken place following years of political turmoil and ...

The general dichotomy in developing economies between the ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ economic sectors needs to be refined to account for the ‘semi‐formal’ sector: one whose activities appear to be governed by formal rules and ...

There has been a basic tension between the stated objectives of Middle Eastern leaders to integrate their countries into the world economy, on the one hand, and the actual, tangible levels of the integration, on the other. ...