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Debating the Yemen conflict: Toward a synthesis of debates and diverse perspectives on causes and actors Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-09-17 Antonios Tsalikis, Revecca Pedi
During the last decade, a significant amount of academic research focusing on the causes of, and the actors involved in the Yemen conflict has been published in peer‐reviewed journals, edited volumes, and books. Yet this research has emerged in a fragmented way that renders a comprehensive understanding of the conflict a challenging enterprise. Through our systematic review of peer‐reviewed academic
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Is military spending converging across middle eastern countries and Turkiye? A comprehensive unit root test analysis Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-09-17 Gulbahar Ucler, Serife Ozsahin
The Middle East is a region of chronic insecurity due to internal and external tensions. These tensions and insecurity have made the Middle East one of the world's leading regions in military armaments. This study investigates the stochastic convergence of military burden in 10 selected Middle Eastern countries using comprehensive unit root analysis. Stochastic convergence for each country from 1977
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The endless reform process: Realities behind Jordan's political modernization efforts Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-09-06 Mohammed Torki Bani Salameh, Moath Alakayleh, Washad Emambocus
The latest royal committee headed by Samir Al‐Rifai to modernize Jordan's political system is often portrayed as a significant step toward political reform. However, this narrative overestimates the committee's impact and overlooks historical limitations and institutional obstacles to reform in Jordan. This study highlights how political reform initiatives in Jordan can be manipulated to serve the
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Editor's introduction—July 2024 Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-07-05 Catherine Warrick
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Memory, fear, and manipulated sectarianism: Exploring Christian views and intercommunal dynamics in Al‐Hasakah amidst the Syrian uprising Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-06-28 Haian Dukhan, Sinan Hawat
The Syrian uprising and subsequent civil war have been extensively studied with a predominant emphasis on sectarianism between the Sunni and Alawite sects. This narrow focus overlooks the profound influence of other religious and ethnic elements within Syrian society. This article aims to broaden the analytical lens by examining the position and attitudes of Christians in the Al‐Hasakah governorate
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Power and competition in the transitions toward postrentierism: The cases of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-06-27 Robert Mason
The imperatives of economic diversification mean that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are scrambling to secure international markets and investments amid a series of domestic changes taking place, including centralized decision making, the marginalization of other traditional modes of governance, and rising nationalism. While there is some evidence of formal security‐related cooperation
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I balance suffering(s): The politics and moralities of humanitarian caseworkers in Egypt as a refugee transit point Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-06-23 Ramy Magdy, Mai Yasser
In a world where asylum and migration have become major concerns for countries of transit and destination, political neutrality seems to be demanded from humanitarian workers. But under the pressures of workload, limited funds, and complex settings, these actors deviate from expectations and practice extra‐legal authority of a unique political nature. When handling asylum cases, these agents take crucial
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Verbal evasion among Iranian presidential candidates Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-06-23 Nouroddin Yousofi, Ahmad Najafi
Clarity is an integral part of communication and a highly substantial speech principle. However, it is widely recognized that when public figures are confronted with unfavorable questions, they may choose to break the principle of clarity in communication and avoid direct reponses. In this regard, the present study attempts to provide a synopsis of the aspects of answering and evading employed by politicians
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Battling for hearts and minds: Sources of Turkish, Iranian, and Saudi soft power in the Middle East Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-06-20 Fatma Aslı Kelkitli
This article examines the sources of Turkish, Iranian, and Saudi soft power in the Middle East through the utilization of Joseph Nye's soft power concept. The study is based on three claims. The first claim argues that there exists an increasing discrepancy between espoused values and actual practices in Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia at home, which may undermine their soft power. The second claim
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Localization of the counterinsurgency in Sinai: A case study on integrating local population into counterinsurgency combat operations in Sinai Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-05-03 Mohamed Saad
Integrating local militias in the counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in Sinai has achieved tangible successes. The presence of local fighters contributed to the penetration of the Islamic State—Sinai Province network. The integration of locals into the ongoing COIN process has imposed a degree of local participation in local governance and decision‐making. Nevertheless, this article argues that there
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Editor's introduction—April 2024 Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-04-16 Catherine Warrick
This issue of the Digest of Middle East Studies may be one of our most wide-ranging yet, even in light of DOMES's long history of publishing diverse scholarship on nearly every possible aspect of Middle East affairs. In this issue, scholars address issues of counterinsurgency in Sinai, the role of first ladies in authoritarian systems, sovereign wealth fund policy in Saudi Arabia, sign language accessibility
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The propaganda war in Iran among the former allies, 1945–1949: The Soviet perspective as seen through Soviet documents Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-04-08 Soli Shahvar
This article gives an interesting picture of how the Soviets viewed the propaganda war in Iran during the second half of the 1940s. It is mainly based on documents from the USSR's Ministry of Interior, the use of which is considered an innovation in the existing literature on the subject. Most of the attention of the Soviet sources discussed concerns the propaganda war, which began in 1943 between
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Public diplomacy of authoritarianism: Strategic use of Suzanne Mubarak Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-04-04 Mustafa Menshawy
A leader's wife can be a key player in consolidating his authoritarianism through her public diplomacy activities. Taking the example of Egypt's former First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak (1981–2011), this article demonstrates how her role in public diplomacy framed her as a “modern” woman with a mission of “modernizing” women or the country's whole population. The modernization model adopted in these frames
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Sign language choice and policy among the signing community in Kuwait Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-04-04 Dalal S. Almubayei
Sign language is significant in its linguistic complexity and sociocultural values to its users. The linguistic situation of sign languages in the Middle East is controversial. For Arab deaf communities, each country has a rich and complex national sign language without the need for a superior, more standard unifying Arabic sign language (ArSL). There have been attempts to unify sign languages by creating
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Foreign aid and bilateral relations: The Israel−East Africa case Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Yaron Salman
International relations literature generally tells us that donor countries see foreign aid as a key instrument of foreign policy to promote political interests. According to research, donor countries usually hope to get favorable voting at the United Nations (UN) arena in return, meaning that the motivation for foreign aid is not so altruistic. This article examines these claims and discusses the link
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Mapping methodological nationalism in Middle Eastern studies: Toward a transnational understanding of the 2011 Arab uprisings? Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-16 Jonas Nabbe, Ward Vloeberghs, Maryse Kruithof
This article assesses the prevalence and implications of the research foci methodological nationalism, methodological globalism, and transnationalism in publications regarding the 2011 Arab uprisings. We propose a new typology that contrasts state-centered methodological nationalism with the cosmopolitan lens of methodological globalism as two opposite ends of a spectrum. Transnationalism is conceptualized
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Islamic finance and economic growth: Global evidence Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-14 Muhammad Hanif, Mohammed Chaker, Ariba Sabah
We document the contribution of Islamic finance development to economic growth by studying a global sample of countries engaged in providing Islamic financial services. Fifteen countries are included in the sample based on significant Islamic banking share in total domestic banking assets. Results are documented through the application of the Panel regression (EGLS) method for the period 2001–2020
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Kurdish gender politics funeral ceremonies of female fighters Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-07 Yunus Abakay
The funeral ceremonies of female fighters are a relatively recent phenomenon that gained popularity in Kurdish politics in Turkey in the early 2000s and after the 2011 uprisings in Syria. As a sociocultural rite, these funerals have become a spectacular site, a political means, and a symbolic investment serving an intersectional agenda pursuing Kurdish national and gender-egalitarian aspirations simultaneously
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Editor's introduction—January 2024 Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-05 Catherine Warrick
本文评估了有关2011年阿拉伯起义的一系列出版物中的方法论民族主义、世界主义和跨国主义研究焦点的普遍性和启示。我们提出了一种新的类型学,它将“以国家为中心的方法论民族主义”与“方法论全球主义的世界主义视角”进行对比,作为衡量幅度的两端。跨国主义的概念介于两者之间,这归因于其对多个地点和跨边界变量的敏感性。我们通过定量研究和内容分析来比较这三个研究焦点的价值和局限性。我们对关于阿拉伯起义的十年学术研究进行了系统性综述,结果表明,中东研究中的民族主义研究方法一直处于主导地位。这是出乎意料的,因为阿拉伯起义的多地区性质表明最好对其进行跨国分析。因此,本文批判性地讨论了方法论民族主义偏见,以更好地理解和阐明这一趋势。最后,我们强调了关于“阿拉伯起义中的行动者、过程及其后果”的跨国视角所提供的一些比较优势。
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The quest to end marginalization: Jordan's diversifying alignments in the post-Arab Spring era Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2024-01-02 Meliha Altunisik, Nur Koprulu
Since 2017 Jordan has been diversifying its alignments while its relations with its traditional backers have become tenser. Drawing upon the existing literature that explains Jordan's alignment choices, this article aims to understand Jordan's diversification of its alignments and how they evolved in the post-Arab Uprisings era. It is argued that although the regime security argument and the linkage
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Reckoning with ‘new’ Turkey: Modes of US reaction to unwanted policy shifts in the Middle East Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-10-04 Michalis Kontos, Zenonas Tziarras
This article discusses the changing relations between the United States and Turkey in light of Turkey's contemporary foreign policy that often challenges American interests. More specifically, it adopts a comparative approach to examine the variables that determine the course of US reaction when unwanted policy shifts take place in the Middle East. To this end, apart from Turkey, the article examines
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Beyond genocide: Towards an improved analysis and understanding of the Syrian regime's mass atrocity crimes in the Syrian Civil War Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-09-29 Samer Bakkour
In the course of the Syrian Civil War, prominent former Syrian Regime politicians, human rights observers, and foreign observers have accused the Syrian Regime of committing genocide against the country's Sunni majority. This article views these accusations as part of a wider politicization of genocide, and instead progresses beyond them to outline the case for an alternative “framing” of large-scale
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The Hamas war against Israel as reflected in the poetry written by its leaders during the First Intifada and the early years of implementation of the Oslo Accords Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-09-28 Elad Ben-Dror
This article looks at Hamas's war against Israel through the lens of the poetry written by leading members of Hamas during the period 1987–1996 (from the founding of the organization through the early stages of the implementation of the Oslo Accords). Poetry is one of the means employed by Hamas to convey its political, social, and religious messages and ideology, which links its Islamic outlook with
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Editor's introduction Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-09-25 Catherine Warrick
This issue of the Digest of Middle East Studies offers articles on topics that range from foreign and defense policy to poetry, and as is often the case, these wide-ranging topics have more in common than one might expect at first glance. In one way or another, the scholarship in this issue all addresses the question of how social scientists and policymakers understand what states and political leaders
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Regional deterrence, strategic challenges, and Saudi Arabia's missile development program Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-09-25 Fariborz Arghavani Pirsalami, Ehsan Shirzadi
The turbulent security environment of the Middle East has been the most crucial factor influencing the behavior of governments in this region. Saudi Arabia, as one of the most important countries in the area, has embarked on a nontransparent effort to develop its missile program in recent decades, raising significant concerns about the security of the Middle East. This article adopts the regional deterrence
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Populism, jihad, and economic resistance: Studying the political discourse of Iran's supreme leader Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-09-25 Sara Bazoobandi
Political leaders of pariah authoritarian states communicate their political discourse unilaterally, in a closed environment without free and open media access or the space for public scrutiny or debate. They use their speeches for various aims such as to respond to external shocks, justify hardship, appeal to domestic and international sympathy, assert autonomy and power, and influence policy and
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The impact of the Middle East and Gulf states' involvement on the Horn of Africa's peace and security: Applying regional security complex theory Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-06-30 Micheale K. Gebru, Getachew Zeru, Yohannes Tekalign
The Middle East and the Horn of Africa are distinct but interdependent Regional Security Complexes (RSCs) whose security interaction and beyond has increased over the last two decades. Recent interactions between the two RSCs, particularly the increased involvement of Middle Eastern and Gulf states, have raised concerns about the Horn of Africa's peace and security. This paper examines the impact of
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Digest of Middle East Studies Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-06-23 Catherine Warrick
Editor's Introduction In this issue of the Digest of Middle East Studies, we are pleased to present five articles on subjects both timely and important. From the theoretical and reflective to the practical and policy-developing, this issue offers, as always, works that engage both policy and social science concerns. This issue's articles have a broad geographical reach from Morocco to Iran and an equally
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Social identities in conflict: Israeli Palestinians and Israeli Jews Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-06-23 Tuğçe Ersoy-Ceylan
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is generally referred as a territorial conflict, but it is also a conflict over the preservation of identity. This study analyzes the relations of Jews and Palestinians in Israel from an identity security perspective. It sheds light on how the communities perceive actions, discourses, and symbols as a mutual threat to their own identity. Adapting the concept of societal
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Iran in the Sadrist version of Iraqi nationalism Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-06-15 Said Khanafira Mavadat
Unlike many other Shiite political factions in Iraq, the Sadrist movement has become increasingly vocal in its criticism of Iranian influence in Iraq. Anti-Iran chants have become almost ubiquitous in Sadrist demonstrations over the past few years, and prominent Sadrist politicians have unabashedly pointed the finger of blame for Iraq's crises at Iran. The growing Sadrist criticism of Iran has simultaneously
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Discursive delegitimization of Rouhani's nuclear diplomacy and the Iran nuclear deal by Iranian conservatives on Twitter Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-06-15 Hossein Nourani, Mohammad Mohammadian, Reza Sarhaddi, Afsaneh Danesh, Farzaneh Latifi
The reformist-moderate and the conservative discourses have co-existed and contended for primacy in the Iranian foreign policy since the 1979 revolution. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, has been at the core of this discursive contest in recent years. This article investigates how Iranian conservative tweeters delegitimized the JCPOA and President
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The lack of environmental cooperation in the Maghreb Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-06-09 Jack V. Kalpakian
This policy paper uses the Eightfold Path method developed by Bardach and Patashnik to study the problem that is the lack of Maghrebian trans-boundary cooperation on the environment. It argues that political conflict has been allowed to obstruct a field that should remain nonpolitical. The paper concludes with policy recommendations intended to generate debate among decision makers and lead to more
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Khalifa versus Prometheus: Green ethics and the struggle for contemporary sustainable urbanism Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-04-04 Agatino Rizzo, Attilio Petruccioli
In the last decades, contemporary urbanism in the global South has meant large urban transformations, tall architecture landmarks, and fierce city competition. However, cities and their planners are now confronting an ethical dilemma: how to grow and compete while caring for the disastrous impacts on Earth and human health caused by the mass extraction, processing, and consumption of resources linked
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Mobilizing religious differences and terrorism, negotiating civil rights in Egypt Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-03-31 Nevine Abraham
The Egyptian state's publication of its first National Human Rights Strategy 2021–2026 (NHRS) (2021) on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks came at the crossroads of Western pressure to improve human rights and the state's use of counterterrorism to silence voices. The recent arrests of Coptic activists, dubbing them “terrorists” on the pretext of disturbing public peace and instigating sectarianism
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The representation of the economic situation in Lebanese satires: Unfiltered or propaganda in practice? Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-03-30 Avner Asher, Dan Naor, Yossi Mann
In recent years Lebanon has been facing economic challenges. Various Lebanese satire shows deal with the difficult economic situation in Lebanon, displaying the high cost of living, corruption, and poor infrastructure. It seems that these shows are faithfully airing public grievances, but is this the case? Are satire shows looking for the common Lebanese denominator while dealing with economic issues
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Editor's introduction Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-03-27 Catherine Warrick
This issue of the Digest of Middle East Studies presents five articles encompassing a wide and engaging range of subjects: human rights, sustainable development, political satire, post-9/11 literature, and resistance movements. Each is a careful study of its subject matter, drawing the reader in for a close examination of a particular topic. Then, standing back, upon reflection it becomes apparent
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On resistance: As evinced in Iranian political affairs Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-03-25 Omid P. Shabani
Along with fundamental rights such as liberty and property, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789 also envisions a right to resist oppression. Irrespective of one's place on the political spectrum, resistance has been employed as an alternative both to submission and to revolt. After briefly sketching a historical and theoretical account of resistance I propose two parallel
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The post-9/11 novel revisited: Reading three perspectives in contemporary American fiction Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2023-03-22 Mubarak Altwaiji
This essay on the Ground Zero novel offers three perspectives on one of the most exciting current debates in humanities by approaching the effects of the most notable 21st century event on the American novel. It presents a scholarly analysis of the American novel of the past 20 years and provides a discussion for readers who are divided by geography, ideology, and religion to understand how the 9/11
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The road to normalization: The importance of the United Arab Emirates' neoliberal foreign policy in the normalization with Israel: 2004–2020 Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-12-26 Daniela Traub, Ronen A. Cohen, Chen Kertcher
The article discusses the question of why and how the normalization between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel took place and managed to evolve into a peace agreement. It offers an additional explanation to the neorealists' scholarly and commonly accepted argument: that it was only the behavior of the revisionist state of Iran that was the motive for signing the peace agreement between the two
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Shura council election in Qatar: Influences that shape how voters select candidates Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-12-23 Hessa Al-Thani, Aisha Al-Ahmadi, Ahmed Al-Emadi
Qatar, a small Gulf Arab nation with a de facto absolute monarchy, held its first general elections ever for 30 Shura Council seats on October 2, 2021. This marked the first time in Qatar's history that citizens played a more direct role in government, moving beyond symbolic elections. This study aimed to examine the factors likely to have influenced voters' selection of candidates, the key issues
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Optimism, pessimism, and perceptions of the Jordanian government's COVID-19 response Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-12-22 Abdulfattah Yaghi
This study aims to examine people's optimistic and pessimistic perceptions of the government's capacity, intention, and performance during and after the lockdowns declared in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was administered in Jordan and responses were collected from a convenience sample of 1245 citizens during April and May 2020. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and multiple
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Promoting multiculturalism and tolerance: Expanding the meaning of “unity through diversity” in the United Arab Emirates Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-12-19 Hamdullah Baycar
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has sought to establish a national identity among its nationals since its inception in 1971. Contrary to the pessimism in its first few years, the UAE was able to create a national identity among its nationals despite their initially differing loyalties. The UAE has now embarked on a phase of creating a new national identity that includes non-nationals, encompassing migrants
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Gender quotas in the Arab world - 20 years on Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-24 Bozena C. Welborne, Gail J. Buttorff
This article aims to survey the state of the literature on gender quotas in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), explicitly focusing on where it stands in terms of their institutional, political, and societal impact after two decades of implementation. In addition, it considers how MENA scholarship on the topic compares with the global literature and includes insights into how region-specific work
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Erratum Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-27
In article by Mustafa (2022) the identity of one of the secondary characters described is clarified. After publication, it was brought to the author's attention that the dark-skinned character may have been reference to the Nigerian Boko Haram leader Abu Muhammad Abu Bakar Sheikawi. This seems likely, as Sheikawi, or Shekau, was once affiliated with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, although later replaced by
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Editor's introduction Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-18 Catherine Warrick
This issue of the Digest of Middle East Studies is the second of two special issues in this year's volume of the journal. In January, we were pleased to bring out a special issue on sectarianism featuring critical and highly original scholarship on the topic. This October issue has as its focus the scholarship on gender issues in the region. Like sectarianism, gender is a topic that has long been of
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The afterlife goes on: The biographical consequences of women's engagement in the 2011 Egyptian uprising Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-14 Nermin Allam
What are some of the effects of women's participation in the 2011 Egyptian uprising on their personal biographies? A small body of feminist scholarship has examined how gender mediates the consequences of social movement participation for women. These studies have largely focused on participants' experiences under Western democracies and within women's movements, yet we know less about the impact of
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The study of women and gender in the Middle East and North Africa beyond culturalism Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-07 Gamze Çavdar
The study of the Middle East and North Africa region has long been dominated by culturalist assumptions that this region is unique and thus common concepts and theories that are applied to other parts of the world do not apply here. This has particularly been the case with regard to the study of women and gender. This special issue brings together six cutting edge research articles that fundamentally
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Do Islamist parties help or hinder women? Party institutionalization, piety and responsiveness to female citizens Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-07 Mounah Abdel-Samad, Lindsay J. Benstead
Does electing Islamist parties help or hurt women? Due to Ennahda winning a plurality in the 2011 elections and women from all parties winning 31% of seats, Tunisia offers an opportunity to test the impact of legislator gender and Islamist orientation on women's representation. Using original 2012 surveys of 40 Tunisian parliamentarians (MPs) and 1200 citizens, we find that electing female and Islamists
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The question of collaboration between secular feminists and pious feminists in Turkey Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-07 Pınar Dokumacı
This paper examines two seemingly opposing trends in the women's rights movement in Turkey: the first trend indicates growing numbers of feminist collaborations and alliances while the second highlights heightened levels of identity-ridden dissent and polarization. By focusing on the relationship between self-identified “pious feminists” and “secular feminists” in Turkey this paper argues that, rather
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A gendered analysis of trends in the faith-based provision of social services: Evidence from Egypt and Turkey Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-04 Gamze Çavdar
The involvement of faith-based organizations in the provision of social welfare has been popular in discourse and policy over the last several decades. This policy is often recommended as a remedy to the underfunded and underdeveloped social welfare system in late industrializing countries. This paper aims to discuss the implications of this recommended policy on women in the MENA region. This question
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Substantive representation of women, informal quotas and appointed upper house parliaments: The case of the Omani State Council Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-10-04 Nawra Al-Lawati
This paper examines the impact of informal quotas on the substantive representation of women in appointed upper parliaments using the Omani State Council as a case study. Although no formal gender quota has been institutionalized in Oman, it is presumed that the Sultan will assign 17% of the seats to women, effectively an informal quota. Through semi-structured interviews with female MPs appointed
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The ruling Islamism Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-06-28 Mamado Mohamed Saad
Drawing on the cases of Iraq and Sudan, it can be argued that the mobilization of economic, cultural, and organizational resources along with the concentration of state resources have led to the radicalization of Islamist parties' positions and political discourse. The concentration of resources was an incentive to reward loyalists, support hard-line discourse, and target opponents by excluding them
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Reevaluating Islamist electoral success and participation in government Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-06-28 Justin Curtis
Under what conditions will Islamist parties perform well in elections and what happens to the political regime should they gain political power? The canonical hypothesis—“one man, one vote, one time”—argues that Islamist parties are likely to perform well whenever elections become free and that their electoral success is likely to lead to a democratic backslide. Others argue that Islamists are not
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Consequences of economic sanctions on minority groups in the sanctioned states Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-06-27 Mehmet Onder
This study explores the effects of economic sanctions on vulnerable groups within target states. When a state uses economic sanctions to realize its foreign policy goals, the government in the sanctioned state usually pursues harsh domestic policies against its ethnic minority groups by employing rally around the flag effect policies. Resultant domestic policies work by casting members of minority
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The enablers of entrepreneurship in the tourism sector of Saudi Arabia: An interpretative structured modeling approach Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-06-20 Hashem A. Alnemer
This study aims to model the set of enablers that promote entrepreneurship in the tourism sector of Saudi Arabia using interpretative structural modeling (ISM), a qualitative expert opinion-based method that helps describe the interrelationship among variables. A review of the literature identified seven major enablers. Drivers and dependence power from the ISM model reveal that collaboration and relaxing
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Editor's introduction Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-06-20 Catherine Warrick
This issue of the Digest of Middle East Studies features articles presenting research on a range of timely and important topics, from party politics to foreign policy, political economy, and media representation. The performance of Islamist parties in electoral competition and in governance is a subject of long-standing interest, and it has attracted attention anew in the years since the Arab Spring
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Colors and Orientalism as associations: Exploring the semiotic (re)presentation of Saudi women in British and Saudi newspapers Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-06-20 Tariq Elyas, Abdulrahman Aljabri, Nesreen Al-Harbi, Areej A-Jahani
Media representations can have significant influence in shaping opinions and influence public response to certain communities or gender and ethnic representations around the world. Investigating semiotic representation in linguistic discourse as vehicles for meaning in culture has been a fruitful area of research over the past decades. This study explores how stereotypes of women feed into the representations
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The irony of sectarianism: Sectarianizing by desectarianizing in Syria Digest of Middle East Studies (IF 0.6) Pub Date : 2022-04-19 Mustafa Menshawy
The study seeks to resolve a conundrum in Syrian politics: the ruling regime has always claimed and celebrated a harmonious social fabric, national unity, and a long-standing tradition of coexistence despite the prevalence of an opposite grim reality marked by sectarian divisions and factionalism which the regime itself mainly created or sustained. I explore the process of acting “as if not” by analyzing