Beyond Black Flags: Daesh as a Framework for Strategic Identity Analysis
Strategic culture analysis’ inability to properly approach non-state actors as a unit of analysis means that modern asymmetric conflicts, such as with ISIS/Daesh, are rendered incomprehensible.
The Governance of Savagery: International Society, Sovereignty and the Islamic State
The gap between the analytical tools of IR and its epistemological western framework has contributed to the failure to predict major ‘upheavals’ in the Middle East.
Perpetual Conflict of ‘Turkishness’: The Turkish State and its Minority Groups.
Turkishness identity has an effect on the social/legal spheres of its state relations and has Othered the largest ethnic/religious minorities, the Kurds and the Alevis.
(Re)Shaping Territories to Identities: Is the Middle East a Colonial Invention?
Orientalism served as a basis of colonial thought and activity that enabled and justified the intervention of the ‘Middle East’ without considering different identities.
The Spread of Islamic Terror in the Contemporary World
The crux of the spread of terrorism lies individual leaders being able to anchor terrorist groups in weak states and use modern communication technologies effectively.
Egypt’s Social Welfare: A Lifeline for the People or the Ruling Regime?
Egypt has one of the most comprehensive welfare systems in Africa and the Middle East but has proved unable to alleviate poverty or improve social justice in the country.
A Spectre of Conflict: Shaping Lebanese Sectarianism and Identity Politics
Sectarianism has gone beyond religious elements, and is actually fueled by identity politics. A united identity in Lebanon is needed to ensure continuing stability.
Oppressing Islamists and Domestic Insecurity in Egypt and Tajikistan
Is the oppression of Islamists a mobilizing factor for mass mobilization against the state? The case studies of Egypt and Tajikistan provide interesting insights.
Diglossia and Politics in Arabic
Political actors in the Middle East use the diglossic features of Arabic to match their language to the political context, as speeches made during the Arab Spring show.
Identity and Turkish Foreign Policy in the AK Parti Era
Turkish foreign policy and identity need to be understood across time whilst taking into consideration the AKP’s domestic power via the Kemalist military establishment.
