Middle Eastern Minorities
This is a comprehensive survey of minorities in the Middle East with a special focus on the post-Arab Spring era.
Minority communities in the Middle East are the most susceptible to the turbulence engulfing the region; the majority may suffer physical violence and socioeconomic loss, but minorities could potentially vanish. Instead of usher ing in democracy and inclusive politics, the revolutionary upheavals of the Arab Spring have brought chaos and fear and reinforced the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism throughout the region. Zabad uses historical sources as well as first-hand interviews to vividly describe the current status of minorities in the Middle East, explaining their attitudes towards the revolutionary upheavals, as well as the vari ous strategies they used to avail themselves of the opportunities presented and confront the risks posed. The question of ethnic, sectarian and religious minorities is situated in the context of the broader history of the region in order to explain the underlying institutional and ideological factors that caused their predicament and problematized their relationship with the majority. The book provides a rich trove of information and insights generated from ten case studies that covered the Sha in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Lebanon and Egypt; the Druze, the Alawites, Christians and Kurds in Syria; the Copts in Egypt, and the Zaydis in Yemen.
Ibrahim Zabad is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Co-director of the International Studies Program at St. Bonaventure University in Western New York.
Minorities in the Middle East is a tour de force written with an urgency and clarity that comes from the authors deep knowledge of the academic literature and the region. Ibrahim Zabad walks us through the difficult history of how the regions nationstates have stumbled and offers searing insights as he explains how Islamic fundamentalists have shouldered aside the feeble secular Arab nationalists, leftists and liberals and why the Arab Spring has failed to bring democracy or advance liberal and progressive politics. Everyone interested in the Middle East should put this timely book at the top of their reading list.
Joshua Landis, Director, Center for Middle East Studies and Professor at the University of Oklahoma.
This book is a clarion call to preserve ethnoreligious diversity in the Middle East. Combining conceptual paradigms with empirical evidence, the author eloquently elucidates the precarious status of Middle Eastern Minorities during and after the Arab Spring. A mustread book for those interested in understanding the diverse Middle East.
Leila Nicolas, Political Commentator, Middle East Expert and Professor of International Affairs at the Lebanese University in Beirut
A highly accessible account of the predicament of minorities in the Arab Spring that highlights the underlying sources of minorities fears and interprets their strategies of survival and resistance. This is a decidedly informative book for understanding critical threats to religious and ethnic pluralism in the region in the 21st century.
Mariz Tadros, Power and popular politics cluster coleader, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex
A broad and incisive survey of minorities in the postArab spring Middle East that explores how ethnoreligious minorities have played vital but varied roles: some have been revolutionary instigators while others remained status quo defenders; but often minorities ended up as collateral damage. Ibrahim Zabads insightful and timely book helps readers make sense of the ordeal of minorities and their strategies for coping with the upheavals engulfing the region.
Justin Gengler, Assistant Research Professor, Social and Economic Survey Research Institute, Qatar University
This important book studies the ways in which minorities were affected by and reacted to the Arab uprisings, using a number of case studies from key Middle Eastern countries.
Toby Matthiesen, St. Antonys College, University of Oxford
Middle Eastern Minorities
The Impact of the Arab Spring
Ibrahim Zabad
First published 2017
by Routledge
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2017 Ibrahim Zabad
The right of Ibrahim Zabad to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN: 978-1-472-47441-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-59520-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
To all my family, my late father, my mother, my brothers and sisters, my wife Majida and my two kids, Ali and Nurhan, for all their kindness, devotion and endless support.
Contents
I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who saw me through this book: my colleagues in the political science department at St. Bonaventure University, especially professor Mary Rose Kubal; my editor, Dan Crissman, and the superb team at Routledge for their relentless support. I particularly want to thank every single individual I interviewed in Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria: Without them, this book would not exist. Finally, I beg forgiveness of all those who have been with me over the course of researching and writing this book and whose names I have failed to mention.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
W. B. Yeats
The Arab Spring did not deliver on its initial promises: rosy dreams of a new and democratic Middle East have faded into oblivion for now. Yet one of the very few virtues of the Arab Spring has been the shining of light on the predicament of minorities. The sweeping changes all across the region were bound to have a deep impact on minorities, who are the most susceptible to the current turbulence. One of the gravest deficiencies of the Arab Spring is its failure to address the enduring question of minoritiesthe Shia, Alawites, Druze, Christians, Kurds, Yazidis, Zaydis, and others. Instead of ushering in a new era of democracy and inclusive politics, the Arab Spring has brought chaos and reinforced the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism by injecting new blood into what seemed like the ossified veins of a decaying ideology.
