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 ...

Despite significant historical and structural differences that separate them, Middle Eastern states have almost uniformly been able to withstand popular pressures for political liberalisation. In each case, the non-democratic ...

In the post-Cold War world where economic or traditional political classifications can no longer be applied, it is argued that political culture has emerged as the ultimate arbiter of national politics on a global scale. ...

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 ...

Authoritarian elites often prolong their tenure in office by engaging in wholesale institutional change. Whether inherited or created from scratch, state institutions in non-democracies are meant to solidify elite cohesion ...

The paper begins with a discussion of the typical roles, profile, and position of small states in the international system, explains the paradox that is Qatar’s outsized role and position in the international system, and ...

Within the span of only a few years, Turkish politics witnessed the dramatic rise and fall of the Refah Party. This transformation from relative obscurity to the head of a ruling coalition and eventual banning was caused ...

نظرت كثير من البحوث الحالية إلى الارتباطات الصينية بالشرق الأوسط من خلال عدسة الأمن، مع إيلاء اهتمام خاص لآثار التفاعلات الصينية وانعكاساتها على الولايات المتحدة وحلفائها. ومع ذلك، يجب النظر إلى علاقة الصين المتطورة في ...

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 ...