Amidst violent contestation across the Middle East leaving regimes facing – or fearing – popular protests, the regulation of political life became increasingly important. Across the past century, the development of political projects has been driven by regime efforts to maintain power, constructing regime-society relations in such a way to ensure their survival. As a consequence, security is not given; rather, it reflects the concerns of elites and embeds their concerns within society, using a range of domestic, regional and geopolitical strategies to meet their needs. These strategies play on a range of different fears and currents to locate regime interests within broader concerns. A key part of such efforts involves the cultivation and suppression of particular identities, often resulting in contestation and uncertainty within and between states. Drawing on the ideas of Giorgio Agamben, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, the article argues that the regulation of sect-based identities – and difference – has been a key part of governance strategies in divided societies across the Middle East, albeit varying across time and space.

在整个中东的暴力斗争中，各政权面临或担心民众的抗议活动，对政治生活的管制变得越来越重要。在过去的一个世纪中，政治项目的发展一直受到政权为维持权力而进行的努力的推动，以确保政权生存的方式建立了政权与社会的关系。结果，没有给予安全性。相反，它反映了精英人士的关注，并通过一系列国内，区域和地缘政治战略满足他们的需求，将他们的关注融入社会。这些策略发挥了一系列不同的恐惧和潮流，以便将政权利益置于更广泛的关注范围之内。这种努力的关键部分是培养和抑制特定的身份，通常会导致国家内部和国家之间的竞争和不确定性。文章借鉴了Giorgio Agamben，Gilles Deleuze和Felix Guattari的思想，认为基于宗派的身份和差异的监管已成为整个中东分裂社会中治理策略的关键部分，尽管它在时间和时间上有所不同。空间。