Article

Orta Doğu’da Ulus-Devlet, Çoğulcu Kimlik Yapısı ve Jeopolitik Çıkarlar

Authors:
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the author.

No full-text available

Request Full-text Paper PDF

To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Chapter
Full-text available
Suriye Suriye Siyasal Sistemi Suriye Dış Politikası Syrian Foreign Policy
Article
Full-text available
Sectarian politics has retreated across the Middle East in the years after the Arab Spring, even as conflict between the region’s two main sectarian actors—Iran and Saudi Arabia—has intensified. This essay explores this incongruence as a way of better understanding the nature and drivers of sectarianism and de-sectarianization in MENA states, supported by public opinion and other data that substantiate the post-2011 decline in Arabs’ concern over sectarianism. It contends that the close correspondence between the rise and demise of the Arab Spring on the one hand, and that of sectarianism on the other, supports an instrumentalist interpretation of sectarian politics in the region.
Article
Full-text available
Bu çalışma özü itibariyle Suudi Arabistan ’ın kurucu ideolojisi olan Vehhabilik ve Suudi rejimine yönelik güçlü bir İslami muhalefet hareketi olarak ortaya çıkan Sahve hareketini ele almakta ve her iki hareketin ortaya çıktığı sivasi, dini ve toplumsal dinamikleri incelemeye çalışmaktadır. İhyacı hareketler olarak Vehhabilik ve Sahve, tarihsel süreç içerisinde şekillenen Selefi geleneğin Suudi Arabistan ’a özgü bir yansıması olarak ortaya çıkmışlardır. Bu çalışmada, Alihmed İbni Hanbel ’le başlayan ve Ahmed İbni Teymiye ’yle devam eden Selefi İslam anlayışının dini, siyasi ve toplamsal dinamikleri ortaya konulmak suretiyle Vehhabilik ve Sahve hareketi üzerindeki etkilerine değinilmektetir. Bununla birlikte, Suudi Arabistan ’daki ihyacı muhalefet hareketi olan Sahve ’nin Suudi rejimi üzerinde kurduğu siyasal baskılar neticesinde devletin örgütlenme ve işleyiş düzeni ile ilgili olarak yapılan reformlardaki etkisi ortaya konmaya çalışılmaktadır.
Article
Full-text available
Glorification of ‘self’ (Western civilisation) at the expense of the ‘other’ (eight civilisations) was inherent in Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations thesis. The ‘other’ civilisations identified—as the non-self and situated mostly in the Global South—were clubbed together as the Rest, irrespective of their pluralism. Building on Huntington’s binaries—the West and the Rest—this article makes an attempt to reflect on similarities within the perceived differences. Even though his civilisations appear different, they are in many ways similar due to interactions, colonisation and globalisation. Their relationship has become complicated; Western civilisation cannot do without civilisations from the Global South. Hence, there can be no perpetual or fixed enemy nor can all relationships be suspended with the ‘other’ in a globalising world.
Article
Full-text available
The relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have been conditioned by many factors, from the religious divide between Shia and Sunni interpretations of Islam to the regional role played by external forces, such as the US. We are currently witnessing the collapse of the traditional Middle East order, most dramatically in Syria. This breakdown has been accompanied by a rapprochement between the US and Iran. But far from producing a more stable situation, it is nurturing a reaction by Sunni states, led by Saudi Arabia, that may lead to more regional rivalries and confrontation. There are two camps—the Shia led by Iran and the Sunni led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—that are colliding in several places, from Syria to Yemen. It is a clash of divergent religious branches but above all of power and strategic interests. Thus far the tensions have, to some extent, been kept under control. But they may well escalate in the near future.
Article
Full-text available
MULTI-POSSESSED DISPOSSESION: DILEMMAS OF NEW THIRD WORLDISM PALESTINIAN QUESTION IN THE POST-ARAB SPRING Abstract Palestinian Question has usually been considered as one of the key examples of solidarity and resistance among the traditional Third Worldist scholars and activists. New Third Worldism which is based on the ideas on a non-state centric (and a non-Eurocentric) egalitarian, democratic and popular global resistance against the dominant system did not (or could not) overlook the developments about the Palestinian Question after the Arab upheavals in 2011. Therefore New Third Worldist approaches embraced pro-Palestinian discourses in their struggle against the dominant forces of the region as well as of the world system. Possession of thePalestinian Question within the context of neo-Third Worldism by various actors at discursive level however, did not (or could not) result in any full fledged activism which would structurally challenge neither the existing system nor its hegemonic actors. This article assesses the concomitant processes of discursive multi-possession and practical dispossession of the Palestinian Question by various states and non-state actors within the context of Neo-Third Worldism. It investigates how the divisiveness, in-system power struggle, target ambiguity among the Neo-Third Worldist forces are reflected in the global, regional and local responses to Palestinian Question in the post-Arab Spring period.
Article
Full-text available
The contest between Saudi Arabia and Iran played out in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, postwar Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Yemen and Bahrain, has shaped the geopolitics of the region since the 2003 US invasion and occupation of Iraq. The Arab uprisings intensified this geopolitical contest and spread it to Syria. The sectarianisation of the region’s geopolitical battles, and the instrumental use of some of the uprisings for geopolitical ends, has hardened sectarian sentiments across the region, complicated post-authoritarian democratic transitions, and, at least in Syria’s case, transformed its popular uprising into a veritable civil war.
Article
Full-text available
Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations" thesis, if nothing else, has sparked a debate over the nature of conflict in the post-Cold War era. Huntington predicts that future conflict, including conflict in the Middle East, will be mostly between civilizations. However, many disagree and variously predict that conflict in general will decline or that it will continue to be fought along more traditional lines. Two traditional bases for ethnic conflict that are particularly relevant to the Middle East are religion and nationalism. Accordingly, this study assesses the comparative impact of civilization, religion, and nationalism on ethnic rebellion in the Middle East. The results show that both conflict in general and civilizational conflict in particular in the Middle East dropped significantly after the end of the Cold War, thus contradicting Huntington's theory. Also it is shown that the most violent rebellions in the Middle East tend to be national conflicts rather than religious ones.
Article
Özet Geçtiğimiz dört yıl içinde, Ortadoğu ülkeleri arasında özellikle Tunus, Mısır, Libya ve Suriye halklarının yönetime karşı örgütlü protesto hareketleri, önemli gelişmeler, zayiatlar ve evrilmeleri üretti. Egemen paradigmaları üreten Oryantalist Batı söyleminde Arap Baharı yahut Uyanışı olarak adlandırılan bu toplumsal hareketler, demokrasi, özgürlükler, iktidar bölüşümünde eşit söz hakkı gibi siyasi ve sivil haklara gönderme yapan sivil toplum hareketleri şeklinde tanımlanmaktadır. Ancak egemen bilgi üreticilerinin denetimi altındaki sivil toplum paradigması, bölgedeki neo-liberal rantiye devletler ve neo-kolonyal etkilerin toplumsal tabanda yarattığı memnuniyetsizlik ve çaresizlik koşullarını örtmektedir. Bu minvalde bu halk hareketleri, siyasi amaçlı İhvan ve Selefi grupların mobilize ettiği ve örgütlemiş olmasından dolayı sivil ve siyasi hak talebi olarak görünse de, Ortadoğu halklarının neo-liberal ve neo-kolonyal düzenin sunduğu sosyal ve eşit ekonomik haklardan yoksunluğa karşı anti-kolonyalist bir başkaldırısı olarak değerlendirilebilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı Ortadoğu’da ortaya çıkan halk hareketine dair dominant söylem haline gelen sivil toplum, siyasi haklar ve özgürlük arayışı analizlerine alternatif bir katkı sunmaktır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda Arap hareketleri hak temelli bir demokratikleşme analiziyle modern vatandaşlığın gelişim sürecinde ekonomik ve sosyal hak talebi olarak incelenmektedir. Böylelikle bu çalışma halk tabanının müdahil olduğu bu hareketleri, bir rejim ve eşitsiz sivil-siyasi haklar sorunundan ziyade, Ortadoğu ülkelerinin geri planda kalmış temel sorunları olan eşitsiz ve rantçı kaynak dağılımı, yolsuzluklar, çıkar ortaklığına dayalı toplumsal tabakalaşma, işsizlik ve yoksulluk ile mücadele gibi sorunlara işaret etmektedir. Anahtar kelimeler: Arap Hareketleri, Neo-liberalizm, Toplumsal Değişme, Demokratikleşme, Ekonomik ve Sosyal Hak Talebi SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND SOCIO-CULTURAL ISSUES POINTED BY POPULAR MOVEMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST Abstract In last four years, Middle East countries, in particular Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, protest movements organized against the government, have produced significant improvements, damages and transformations. These social movements called as the Arab Spring or Awakening in Western Orientalist discourse producing dominant paradigms, are defined as civil society movements which refer to political and civil rights, such as democracy, freedom, equal voice in distribution of power. However, the paradigm of civil society under the control of the dominant knowledge producers covers people’s conditions of dissatisfaction and helplessness created in social structure by neo-liberal rentier states and neo-colonial effects in the region. In this manner, although these people's movements seem as the quest of civil and political rights due to the fact that masses had been mobilized and organised by politically motivated Ihvan and Salafi groups, these movements could be analyzed as an anti-colonialist unrest against the deprivation of social and equal economic rights created by neoliberal and neo-colonial order, as a quest for social and economic rights. The objective of this study is making an alternative contribution to dominant analysis as the quest for civil society, political rights and freedom for these people's movements emerged in the Middle East. In accordance with this aim, Arab movements are examined as quest for economic and social rights in the process of developing modern citizenship with a rights-based analysis of democratization. Thus, rather than analysis as problem of regime and unequal civil and political rights for grassroots that involved in these movements, this study primarily is referring to the problem of struggle against unequal, rentier distribution of resources, corruption, social stratification based on corporations of interest, unemployment of the masses and poverty as hidden central issues of the Middle East countries. KeyWords: Arab Movements, Neoliberalizm, Social Change, Democratisation, Quest for Economic and Social Rights
Article
This article looks at modern sectarian (here referring to Sunni/Shi'a) identities and their interaction with nationalism in the Middle East. In doing so I make three interrelated claims: 1) the term ‘sectarianism’ is distortive and analytically counterproductive. A better understanding of modern sectarian identity requires us to jettison the term. 2) Once discarded, our focus can then shift to sectarian identity: how it is constructed, perceived, utilized and so forth. A holistic understanding of sectarian identity must recognize the multiple fields upon which it is constructed and contested. The model adopted here frames sectarian identity as simultaneously operating on four fields: doctrinal, subnational, transnational and, crucially for our purposes, the national dimension. 3) Thirdly, this article challenges the assumptions regarding national and sectarian identities in the modern Middle East. Contrary to conventional wisdom, modern sectarian identities are deeply embedded in the prism of the nation‐state and are inextricably linked to nationalism and national identity. The article will rely primarily on the example of modern Iraq but, as will be seen, the Iraqi example is significantly echoed in the cases of Bahrain, Syria and Lebanon.
Article
Are countries in the Middle East characterized by comparatively distinctive, domestic‐level attributes that justify the recent years’ intensification of identity conflict in the region? The article presents descriptive statistics showing, first, that the Middle East is the only region in the world where religious (including sectarian) affiliation is the predominant identity marker determining group membership and, second, that people in the Middle East, on average, are twice as likely as people in other developing regions to belong to identity groups excluded from legitimate political representation. The article discusses these empirical trends based on the literature on ethnicity (defined broadly to include language, ‘race’, religion, and other cultural attributes) and ethnic conflict. The discussion suggests that the comparatively high level of identity‐based political inequality in the region provides a better explanation for the intensity of the conflict than does the predominance of religious identity divides.
Article
This data study provides the first comprehensive empirical overview of organised violence across the Shia and Sunni Muslim divide, 1989–2017. We present a conceptual framework of sectarian dimensions of armed conflicts: sectarian identities; sectarian ideologies; and sectarian alliances. Our analysis demonstrates the extent to which organised violence has been fought across the Shia-Sunni divide. We also explore the sectarian identity dimension in non-state armed conflicts and one-sided violence. Overall, our study shows that most of the organised violence across the Shia-Sunni divide is driven by states, rebel groups, and militias, rather than communities.
Article
This article offers a critical examination of the vocabulary associated with the study of ‘sectarianism’ in the Middle East. It surveys Arabic- and English-language works on ‘sectarianism’ to illustrate how the term’s lack of definition has allowed it to be used in contradictory ways that render it, not simply meaningless, but distortive to our understanding of the region. In addition, the term ‘sectarianism’, with its inescapably negative connotations, has been used as a tool to neutralize political dissent and stigmatize people’s religious identity and otherwise legitimate acts of expression and mobilization.
Article
The first phase of modernization of the Middle East, involving major foreign influence over the political thinking and ideologies of the region, lasted until the de facto disappearance of the Ottoman Empire in 1917. With the end of the war and the postwar agreements, the second phase began. It was marked by deep disappointment at the fact that the League of Nations sanctioned foreign presence in the region, and by the division of the Arab territories into a series of newly created entities. This second phase in the political history of the Middle East lasted until the 1967 War and was characterized by the development of unique Arab nation-states. In the aftermath of the 1967 War, each Arab country rendered the concept of a single, overarching Arab nation-state useless. During this phase, the concept of the separate Arab nation-state became fully legitimate. With the “Arab Spring,” a new phase began: now that the Arab nation-state has been legitimized, the nature of the local regimes is at stake.
Article
Allegations of sectarian violence and discrimination saturate popular and scholarly accounts of developments in the mena region, particularly in the wake of renewed violence in Syria and Iraq. These accounts should sound a warning bell to scholars of religion and politics. The discourse of sectarianism is a modern discourse of religion-in-politics authorized by particular authorities in particular times and places. It relies on a fixed and stable representation of the shifting roles played by that which is named as “religion” or “sect” in politics and society. The complex and often conflicting forces that come together in any given episode of violence or discrimination subvert the stable notions of sectarian motivation and causation that form the bedrock in which such accounts rest. This essay disaggregates and politicizes the discourse of sectarianism, drawing on examples from Egypt, Bahrain, and Israel. It argues for distinguishing between religious difference as construed by those in positions of power, and religious difference as construed and experienced—and at times downplayed or ignored—by individuals and communities that are subjected to, and shaped by, sectarian projects, policies, and narratives.
Article
In his 1993 Foreign Affairs article 'The Clash of Civilizations?', Samuel Huntington suggested that the international system and future conflicts in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War is likely to be defined by cleavages between and among distinct civilizations. Responding to Huntington's anticipation of a fundamental clash between a civilization defined by Islam and the West, this essay argues that Huntington overstates the homogeneity of the predominantly Islamic world and of the Arab world, and errs to the extent to which he appears to suggest that so-called 'Islamic fundamentalism' represents the sole authentic expression of Islam.
Article
Huntington's thesis on the prospective clash of civilizations is criticized in two directions: neither the original article or the book gives any systematic analysis of the inherent link between the cultural characteristics of civilizations and the actual behavior of core representatives of such civilizations. Although Huntington's thesis is more plausible at the micro-level, his argument is deficient here as well: most ethnopolitical conflicts in the modern world result from protracted socio-economic discrimination rather than from cultural roots. The culturalization of such conflicts is, as a rule, a relatively late phenomenon in an escalation process, turning socio-economic conflicts into identity conflicts once the level of collective frustration becomes high. In contrast to his empirical analysis, Huntington's political recipe of non-intervention, joint mediation and finding commonalities among key representatives of different civilizations can be applauded, but they are in strange contradiction to the book-length analysis presented by the author.
Article
In the Middle East, religion is often associated with partisan insularity and hostility towards the “other” and peace initiatives have avoided religious institutions and their authorities. The effective way to marginalize the political abuse of religion is to demonstrate its constructive political use. The establishment of a Council of the Religious Leadership Institutions of the Holy Land facilitates ongoing communication between the religious leadership, but also engages political leadership in the pursuit of peace and reconciliation. An accord regarding Jerusalem would affirm respect for holy sites and provide psychological and political support for the peace process.
Article
This article examines the influence of religion on conflict in the Middle East. It develops a more refined approach to studying the effects of religion by examining intra-Islamic differences as well as the effects of domestic politics and religion on conflict. It tests these hypotheses on all Middle Eastern dyads from 1950 to 1992, including appropriate control variables. This article finds that religious identity does matter but only when its relationship with conflict is more clearly specified. Religious differences between the leaders of states influence the likelihood of militarized disputes, but not religious differences between the populations of two states. Ethnic differences and power politics also influence the likelihood of an militarized interstate dispute.
Chapter
IntroductionFaith and StateIslam EntrenchedModernity and ExclusionWhither Faith?ReformContest from the Margins
Article
El autor de este libro revisa la evolución de la política global desde el fin de la guerra fría y prevé que las fuente principal de conflictos en el futuro tiene raíces culturales, a partir de las líneas divisorias entre civilizaciones. Huntington vislumbra que Occidente enfrentará civilizaciones no occidentales que rechazarán sus ideales más típicos (democracia, libertad, derechos humanos, soberanía de la ley, separación entre el Estado y la Iglesia), a la vez que aconseja un más sólido conocimiento del mundo no occidental, con objeto de potenciar la influencia occidental, sea a través de las relaciones ruso-japonesas, el aprovechamiento de las diferencias entre los estados islámicos o el mantenimiento de la superioridad miitar en el este y el sudeste asiáticos.
Arap Baharı Karşısında İran Dış Politikası
  • Z Abdi
Abdi, Z. (2014). Arap Baharı Karşısında İran Dış Politikası. H. Çomak & C. Sancaktar (Ed.), Ortadoğu Analizi. Beta Yayınları, İstanbul, 193-216.
Kaynayan Orta Doğu, İthaki Yayınları
  • G Achcar
Achcar, G. (2004). Kaynayan Orta Doğu, İthaki Yayınları, İstanbul.
Siyaset Olarak Hayat, Metis Yayınları
  • A Bayat
Bayat, A. (2016). Siyaset Olarak Hayat, Metis Yayınları, İstanbul.
Bölgesel Dönüşüm Süreci ve Körfez Güvenliği
  • A Erboğa
Erboğa, A. (2016). Bölgesel Dönüşüm Süreci ve Körfez Güvenliği. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi, 3(1), 9-38.
Suudi Arabistan’ın Suriye Stratejisi
  • A Erboğa
Erboğa, A. (2017). Suudi Arabistan'ın Suriye Stratejisi. H. B. Yalçın & B. Duran (Ed.), Suriye Stratejileri, Seta Yayınları, Ankara, 235-248.
Arap İsyanlarını Anlamak
  • J Gelvin
Gelvin, J. (2014). Arap İsyanlarını Anlamak. D. Çetinkaya (Ed.), Ortadoğu: Direniş, Devrim, Emperyalizm. İletişim Yayınları, İstanbul, 63-88.
İran ve Ortadoğu, Adres Yayınları
  • Ü Gündoğan
Gündoğan, Ü. (2016). İran ve Ortadoğu, Adres Yayınları, Ankara.
İdealizm ve Realizm Sarkacında Soğuk Savaş Sonrası İran Dış Politikası
  • F A Kelkitli
Kelkitli, F. A. (2014). İdealizm ve Realizm Sarkacında Soğuk Savaş Sonrası İran Dış Politikası. H. Çomak & C. Sancaktar (Ed.), Ortadoğu Analizi. Beta Yayınları, İstanbul, 217-236.
Arap Devrimlerinde Şiddet: Paradigmatik Bir Örnek Olarak Mısır
  • F Khoshrokhavar
Khoshrokhavar, F. (2014). Arap Devrimlerinde Şiddet: Paradigmatik Bir Örnek Olarak Mısır. D. Çetinkaya (Ed.), Ortadoğu: Direniş, Devrim, Emperyalizm. İletişim Yayınları, İstanbul, 147-198.
Ürdün Haşimi Krallığı ve Siyasal Liberalleşme Süreçleri: 2010 Parlamento Seçimlerinin İçsel ve Bölgesel Dinamikler Açısından Bir Değerlendirmesi
  • N Köprülü
Köprülü, N. (2011). Ürdün Haşimi Krallığı ve Siyasal Liberalleşme Süreçleri: 2010 Parlamento Seçimlerinin İçsel ve Bölgesel Dinamikler Açısından Bir Değerlendirmesi. Akademik Ortadoğu, 5(2), 43-60.
Suriye: Leviathan'ın
  • H G Lobmeyer
Lobmeyer, H. G. (2007). Suriye: Leviathan'ın Diyarı. F. İbrahim & H. Wedel (Ed.), Ortadoğu'da Sivil Toplumun Sorunları. İletişim Yayınları, İstanbul, 93-116.
İran ve Arap Baharı: Çift Taraflı Aynadaki Asimetri mi
  • O Okyar
Okyar, O. (2015). İran ve Arap Baharı: Çift Taraflı Aynadaki Asimetri mi? Uluslararası İlişkiler, 12(45), 61-82.
Küreselleşen İslam, Metis Yayınları
  • O Roy
Roy, O. (2013). Küreselleşen İslam, Metis Yayınları, İstanbul.
Siyasal İslam’ın İflası
  • O Roy
Arap Baharı Sürecinde İran’ın
  • B Sinkaya
İran: Yol Ayrımında Bir Devlet ve Toplum
  • Y Taşkın
Taşkın, Y. (2014). İran: Yol Ayrımında Bir Devlet ve Toplum. D. Çetinkaya (Ed.), Ortadoğu: Direniş, Devrim, Emperyalizm. İletişim Yayınları, İstanbul, 219-268.
Lübnan'da Din ve Siyaset: Dürzi Liderlik Örneği
  • Y Atlıoğlu
İran Dış Politikasının Genel Çerçevesi ve
  • H Boz
Boz, H. (2014). İran Dış Politikasının Genel Çerçevesi ve Dini Retoriği. Y.
Suudilerin Dâhili İkilemleri ve Arap Ayaklanmalarına Verilen Bölgesel Yanıtlar
  • M El Reşid
El Reşid, M. (2014). Suudilerin Dâhili İkilemleri ve Arap Ayaklanmalarına Verilen Bölgesel Yanıtlar. F. Gerges (Ed.), Yeni Ortadoğu. İyidüşün Yayınları, İstanbul, 401-432.
Ortadoğu Uluslararası İlişkiler Çalışmaları
  • F Gerges
Gerges, F. (2014). Ortadoğu Uluslararası İlişkiler Çalışmaları: Tarih, Teori ve Metodoloji Üzerine Bir Haşiye. Z. T. Kor (Ed.), Ortadoğu Konuşmaları. Küre Yayınları, İstanbul, 25-58.
Soğuk Savaş Sonrasında Basra Körfezi'nde Güvenlik: Yapılanma, Algılamalar, Politikalar
  • R Kılınç
Kılınç, R. (2000). Soğuk Savaş Sonrasında Basra Körfezi'nde Güvenlik: Yapılanma, Algılamalar, Politikalar. Avrasya Dosyası, 6(1), 6-27.
Arap Devrimleri ve Uluslararası Sistem
  • N Mostafa
Mostafa, N. (2014). Arap Devrimleri ve Uluslararası Sistem. Z. T. Kor (Ed.), Ortadoğu Konuşmaları. Küre Yayınları, İstanbul, 59-102.
Suriye-İran İlişkileri
  • Ö B Özdemir
Özdemir, Ö. B. (2016). Suriye-İran İlişkileri. M. A. Okur & N. Salık (Ed.), Suriye. Nobel Yayınevi, Ankara, 341-360.
Devrimi Sonrası İran’ın Rejim Paradigması ve Dış Politika Yönelimleri
  • İ Sarı
Suriye'de Değişim Çabaları: Bir Bağlam ve Süreç Analizi
  • B Süer
Süer, B. (2012). Suriye'de Değişim Çabaları: Bir Bağlam ve Süreç Analizi. Akademik Ortadoğu, 6(2), 1-20.