Marc Lynch (editor) - The Political Science of the Middle East: Theory and Research Since the Arab Uprisings

Edited by

MARC LYNCH, JILLIAN SCHWEDLER, AND SEAN YOM

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Oxford University Press 2022

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Lynch, Marc, 1969 editor. | Schwedler, Jillian, editor. | Yom, Sean L., editor.

Title: The political science of the Middle East : theory and research since

the Arab uprisings / edited by Marc Lynch, Jillian Schwedler, and Sean Yom.

Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2022. |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022003362 (print) | LCCN 2022003363 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780197640050 (paperback) | ISBN 9780197640043 (hardback) |

ISBN 9780197640067 (epub) | ISBN 9780197640081

Subjects: LCSH: Middle EastPolitics and government21st century. |

Political cultureMiddle East. | Political scienceResearchMiddle East.

Classification: LCC JQ1758.A58 P654 2022 (print) | LCC JQ1758.A58 (ebook) |

DDC 320.956dc23/eng/20220401

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022003362

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022003363

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197640043.001.0001

Marc Lynch

Andr Bank, Eva Bellin, Michael Herb, Lisa Wedeen, Sean Yom, and Saloua Zerhouni

Nermin Allam, Chantal Berman, Killian Clarke, and Jillian Schwedler

May Darwich, F. Gregory Gause III, Waleed Hazbun, Curtis Ryan, and Morten Valbjrn

Holger Albrecht, Kevin Koehler, Devorah Manekin, and Ora Szekely

Ferdinand Eibl, Shimaa Hatab, and Steffen Hertog

Tarek Masoud, Khalil al-Anani, Courtney Freer, and Quinn Mecham

Fanar Haddad, Lisel Hintz, Rima Majed, Toby Matthiesen, Bassel F. Salloukh, and Alexandra A. Siegel

Lindsay J. Benstead, Justin Gengler, and Michael Robbins

Rawan Arar, Laurie Brand, Rana B. Khoury, Noora Lori, Lama Mourad, and Wendy Pearlman

Janine A. Clark, Sarah El-Kazaz, Mona Harb, and Lana Salman

Lisa Anderson

This ambitious volume is the work of a sprawling academic community. By highlighting the flurry of pathbreaking research conducted by political scientists of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the past decade, it achieves three goals. First, it illustrates how the Arab uprisings of 201112 sparked vital new directions in the study of comparative politics and international relations across the region. The uprisings constituted a generational event, if a poorly understood one, and recast how scholars approached the core issues girding political science: political governance, social forces, economic dynamics, and institutional order, among others.

Second, the book proves the immense theoretical payoff of cultivating regional expertise within political science. MENA researchers during the 2010s quickly pivoted from cataloging the Arab uprisings to explaining their ripple effects for comparative politics and international relations. Intimate understandings of regional politics enabled them to push back against existing theories and raise daring questions, question old assumptions, postulate creative hypotheses, and collect new data in their quest to explain puzzling outcomes within states and societies. The chapters that follow signify that for many topics in political science, regional knowledge gained through close-range study and linguistic expertise can greatly advance the frontiers of disciplinary knowledge.

Finally, this work is testimony to the importance of intellectual collaboration. The study of MENA politics has become a truly global undertaking, and our authors reflect an authentic slice of that pluralism and diversity. Nearly fifty scholarsat various stages of their careers and spread across several continents and dozens of institutionscontributed to the twelve chapters that follow. Our emphasis lies not in picking winners and losers within ongoing debates but in taking stock of those debates by highlighting points of consensus as well as disagreements.

Coordinating this convergent effort would be complicated even in normal times; that the project overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic made it anything but. Yet we stand proudly by the fruits of our collective action. We present this book as a definitive statement of MENA political science, including its critical progress over the past decade, the lessons it has taught the rest of political science, and the cauldron of new ideas still animating regional studies. We have designed the volume for flexible use in various settings, including as a disciplinary reader for MENA specialists, a reference guide for non-MENA scholars, and a graduate text for advanced courses and training on MENA politics.

The editors are deeply grateful to all the contributors who participated in this generational endeavor, particularly as the coronavirus pandemic made in-person conferences nearly impossible. Every chapter encapsulates an expansive field of research inquiry, and each could constitute an encyclopedic volume in its own right. In authoring, editing, and revising the chapters, we came to absorb an immense body of knowledge ourselves, making us even more impressed with the rapid advancements and theoretical sophistication that now typify the political science of the Middle East.

Beyond our contributors, we thank two anonymous reviewers who provided feedback and praise that helped usher the volume into production. David McBride at Oxford University Press and his editorial team deserve special thanks for ensuring a smooth progression from drafting to publication. Hillary Wiesner and the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Toby Volkman of the Henry R. Luce Foundation have been unflagging in their support for the Project on Middle East Political Science.

Finally, we wish to thank the broader community of scholars who study the MENA region, who as friends, colleagues, and peers have tirelessly worked to further our understanding of the region throughout our careers. This community is eclectic. It stretches across multiple subfields in political science and pursues diverse methodological and epistemological commitments. Being members of this community ourselves, we know that its spirit of open-mindedness, intellectual curiosity, and personal generosity have made MENA politics one of the most supportive and collaborative areas within political science. This volume is a testament to this.