The Arab System: Pressures, Constraints, and Opportunities

Introduction

“…The events of the Arab Uprisings opened up schisms between rulers and ruled, which quickly became arenas for geopolitical competition in a region underpinned by a range of shared norms, creating what Paul Noble termed a 'regional echo chamber'. 27 In societies divided along sect-based lines -most notably Bahrain and Syria -schisms provided opportunities for Saudi Arabia and Iran to operate in pursuit of improved regional standing, often at the expense of the other. 28 As protests gained momentum and it appeared that regimes could have been toppled, events took on additional geopolitical meaning.…”

Houses built on sand

“…With this in mind, Paul Noble's comments about the Middle Eastern echo chamber as 'a set of interconnected organisms separated only by porous membranes, or, alternatively a large-scale domestic system divided into compartments of varying degrees of permeability' remain relevant. 13 Central to the organisation of regional politics is the ability of religion to shape the conflation and calibration of space and politics, driven both by local and regional contexts. 14 While the 2003 war in Iraq facilitated the emergence of violence along sect-based lines -driven by the vociferously anti-Shi'a rhetoric of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qa'ida in Iraq -the 2006 Hizballah war with Israel brought sectarian politics into regional calculations.…”

Letters and declarations

“…For Paul Noble, this shared environment created a 'vast sound chamber in which information, ideas, and opinions have resonated with little regard for state frontiers' . 2 Emerging from the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the contemporary regional states system underwent a period of (re)construction forged by an array of domestic and regional struggles, amid the penetration of the Middle East by external powers. As Agamben suggests, all states operate within the global nomos of a spatialised exception that is underpinned by neo-liberal modernity, but such localised exceptions are shaped by local context and contingency.…”