Moderation has been a recurring theme in international politics, particularly in the international politics of the Middle East, where foreign and regional actors have often categorized others and themselves as either “moderates” or “radicals.” However, very few works have sought to deconstruct the meaning of moderation in this context. Those that have addressed the issue have mostly treated moderation as a Western attempt to simplify regional geopolitics and dichotomize the actors to justify their choices of allies and foreign policy toward the region. This article argues that “moderate” has evolved from a category of analysis to one of practice. The so-called moderates, after negotiating the word's meaning, have embraced it as a description of themselves. Through an examination of the evolution of the “moderate” Arabs label from the Cold War to the Syrian civil war, the article demonstrates that the word has evolved through negotiations among the foreign powers that introduced it and the so-called moderates themselves. Furthermore, it demonstrates the role that the label as a category of practice has come to play in regional geopolitics.

中文翻译：

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“温和”阿拉伯国家：从冷战到叙利亚冲突

温和一直是国际政治中反复出现的主题，特别是在中东的国际政治中，外国和地区行为者经常将他人和自己归类为“温和派”或“激进派”。然而，在这种情况下，很少有作品试图解构适度的含义。那些解决这个问题的人大多将温和视为西方试图简化地区地缘政治并将行为者分为两部分，以证明他们对该地区的盟友和外交政策的选择是合理的。本文认为，“中庸”已经从分析范畴演变为实践范畴。所谓的温和派，在商定了这个词的含义后，已经接受了它作为对自己的描述。通过考察“温和”阿拉伯人标签从冷战到叙利亚内战的演变，文章表明这​​个词是通过引入它的外国势力与所谓的温和派本身之间的谈判演变而来的。此外，它展示了标签作为一种实践类别在区域地缘政治中的作用。