International Relations of the Middle East

May Darwich is Associate Professor in International Relations of the Middle East at the University of Birmingham. Her research engages Middle Eastern cases to advance debates in International Relations theory, focusing on themes such as threat perception, alliance politics, identity, and foreign policy. She is author of Threats and Alliances in the Middle East: Saudi and Syrian Policies in a Turbulent Region (Cambridge, 2019). Adham Saouli is Professor of International Relations and Middle East Politics at the University of St Andrews. He is the author of Arab State: Dilemmas of Late Formation (2012), Hezbollah: Socialisation and its Tragic Ironies (2019) and editor of Unfulfilled Aspirations: Middle Powers in the Middle East (2020). His ongoing research explores the genealogy and contemporary political impact of the Arabo-Islamic concept of Fitna.

• List of figures; List of tables; List of contributors; Acknowledgement; Note on transliteration; List of abbreviations; International relations of the Middle East: an introduction May Darwich and Adham Saouli; 1. What is international relations theory? Theory, metatheory, reflexivity, pluralism Vassilios Paipais; Part I. Making and Dynamics of Regional Order: 2. Historical sociology: case study: revolution and foreign policy in Nasserite Egypt Adham Saouli; 3. Postcolonialism: case study: history, colonialism, and conflict in Syria Jasmine K. Gani; 4. Constructivism: case study: identity and regional cold wars Morten Valbjørn; 5. Poststructuralism case study: marginalising Arab collective identity Silvia Ferabolli; Part II. Conflict and Foreign Policy: 6. Feminism case study: gender and Israeli settler colonialism in Palestine Nicola Pratt; 7. Classical realism case study: Saudi Foreign policy in the post–2011 Middle East May Darwich; 8. Structural Realism case study: the Maghreb regional system: anarchy and war Mohammed Hemchi and Bassel F. Salloukh; 9. Marxism case study: Iran's Intervention in Syria (2011–2021) Kayhan Valadbaygi; Part III. Regional Issues: 10. Liberalism case study: special economic zones in the Middle East Imad El-Anis; 11. The English school case study: natural disasters and promises of regional Solidarism in the Middle East Ipek Z. Ruacan; 12. Green theories case study: the Yemen War and Red Sea Pollution Jeannie Sowers; Conclusion: international relations theory: explanation, understanding, and evaluation Anthony F Lang, Jr.; Glossary; Index.

'Ιnternational Relations of the Middle East: Theories and Case Studies takes both International Relations (IR) theory and the Middle East seriously. By pairing each IR theory approach with a sharply drawn regional case, this book teaches students how to think about the Middle East through the lens of theory. This is the textbook that we have all been waiting for.' Ayşe Zarakol, University of Cambridge