Threats and alliances in the post-2011 Middle East

Alliances in the Middle East, characterized by ephemeral patterns, puzzling shifts, and opaque decision making, have constantly baffled scholars, policy analysists, and observers of regional politics. During the past decade, the proliferation of non-state actors has brought further complexity in making sense of alliance patterns at local, regional, and international levels. While previous debates focused on whether alliance politics were driven by either material exigencies or identity politics, unravelling alliance patterns now requires a closer look as to how both layers matter is shaping alliance patterns in the Middle East. An eclectic approach will not only bring sense to seemingly messy alliance politics in the region, but it puts forward a nuanced understanding of regional dynamics in a post-2011 Middle East.

May Darwich is Associate Professor in International Relations of the Middle East at the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom). She is PI of the project PIIPE ‘Port Infrastructure, International Politics, and Everyday life: From the Arabian Gulf to the Horn of Africa’, funded by Carnegie Corporation NY. Her research interests include threat perception and alliance politics, identity and foreign policy, and sectarian politics in the international relations of the Middle East.

Conference moderated by Lurdes Vidal, Affiliated Faculty Member, IBEI . Co-organised by the IEMed as part of the Aula Mediterrània 2022-23 programme in collaboration with the Master’s in International Relations, IBEI

This conference takes place at the IEMed conference room, Girona, 20 - Barcelona.