Introduction: The state and Identity in MENA; Kenneth Christie and Mohammad Masad -- 1. State Formation, Religion and Ethnicity in the Middle East and North Africa: An Overview; Mohammad Masad and Kenneth Christie -- 2. Extra-Regional Interests, Authoritarian Elites and Dependent State Formation in the Arab World; Marion Boulby -- 3. The Interplay of Palestinian and Jordanian Identities in Re/making the State and Nation Formation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Nur Kprl -- 4. The Ikhwan Movement and its Role in Saudi Arabia's State Building; Sebastiano Andreotti -- 5. The Post-14/02/11 Bahrain: A State in the Remaking; Magdalena Karolak -- 6. Muslims and Christians in Egyptian State Formation: A New Beginning in 2011?; Sebastian Els̃sser -- 7. Religion, Ethnicity, and State Formation in Algeria: 'The Berber' As a Category of Contestation; Lisa Watanabe -- 8. The Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah Political Entente: A Paradigm Shift in Lebanese Identity and State Formation?; Bouchra Bouyoub
The Arab uprisings that began in 2011 have drawn attention to elements crucial to assessing and reassessing the ways that states form, stay together, and react to the forces of globalization. For different states in the MENA region, this has had different implications and consequences that stem from the politics of identity and the historical and political processes individual states have faced in their development. This volume examines these elements in terms of religion, ethnicity, and identity - among other factors - to illustrate their importance in state formation and the ways that they have been affected by the uprisings. It focuses on the historical, political, economic, and social factors at work, especially as they take shape next to globalization. Case studies include well-established states such as Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, as well as less well established Gulf countries such as Bahrain. The authors take the view that identity is a dynamic and changing element in the process of state formation
