RMIT University - School of Economics, Finance and Marketing
Date Written: 2014
Abstract
This CIRS research initiative on weak states in the Middle East begins with a critical analysis of current definitions and terminology of weak and fragile states, scrutinizing the political implications of the prevailing discourse within the setting of the broader Middle East. The research also examines the domestic, regional, and global causes and consequences for the Middle East of the “fragility” of states stretching from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east to Libya in the west. Employing multidisciplinary perspectives, the Center for International and Regional Studies examines the causes and implications of conceptual notions of state fragility across the region in relation to areas such as politics and security, economics and natural resources, intra- and inter-state relations, migration and population movements, and the broader regional and global political economies.
Keywords: Weak States, Politics, Middle East, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Geopolitics, Hizbullah, Sudan, Pakistan, Palestine, North Africa
Kamrava, Mehran and Schmitz, Charles and Phillips, Sarah and Esser, Daniel E. and Wehrey, Frederic and Mikaelian, Shoghig and Salloukh, Bassel F. and Abusharaf, Rogaia and De Waal, Alex and Babar, Zahra and Osman, Dwaa and Robinson, Glenn E. and Brand, Laurie and McGillivray, Mark and Feeny, Simon and de Silva, Ashton, Fragile Politics: Weak States in the Greater Middle East (2014). CIRS Summary Report No. 11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2840398 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2840398