Journal of Political Strategy

Indeterminate Regionalism in the Middle East

Volume 4, Issue 15 - Serial Number 15
Winter 2021
Pages 93-112
Journal of Political Strategy

Document Type : Original Independent Original Article

Authors

naser pourebrahim 1
Reza Nasiri Hamed 2

1 PhD candidate at Middle East Technical University (Ankara), Department of International Relations, Ankara, Turkey.

2 Assistant Professor of Institute of Iranian History and Culture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract
This paper will examine regionalism and anti-regionalism trends in the Middle East after the Arab uprisings. The implementation of Trump policies in the region, the rise and fall of ISIS, the decline of the Arab uprisings, the convergence and divergence trends in the Middle East, especially among its three major actors Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have caused particular complexities. All this, has made it impossible to speak of the regional order in the Middle East, and the two processes of regionalism and anti-regionalism in the region are simultaneously emerging. The paper will explore these opposing trends in terms of recent developments and will essentially emphasize how these two opposite processes will reproduce each other in terms joint and divided security concerns? And why regionalism has not ever been fully evolved in the Middle East? It seems that the multiplicity of influential factors and the complexity of the existing relations have made very difficult the possibility of convergence and specifically regionalism in the Middle East.

Keywords

Regionalism
Middle East
Iran
Turkey
Saudi Arabia and USA
Subjects
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