Waiting for IR Godot? In search of transformative encounters between Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations

Abstract

Within the Special Issue ‘Reaching for allies? The dialectics and overlaps between International Relations and Area Studies in the study of politics, security, and conflicts’, this article investigates the post-2011 changing relationship between International Relations (IR) and Middle Eastern Studies (MES). The article departs from the assumption that the reading and writing of security in, on and from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has historically been trapped between the projection of security from abroad and endogenous security narratives. We argue that within the post-Arab uprisings renewed scholarly attention, with studies on security in, on and from the MENA region expressing an all-time methodological pluralism and the increasing and original application of bottom-up and non-military security understandings to regional security, societal and human security are among the most promising notions for transformative dialogue between IR and MES. In broader theoretical terms, we show how the ongoing debate on post-Weberian notions of statehood and post-Westphalian sovereignty point to an already transformative dialogue between IR and MES. The article illustrates this trend with two case studies – on Tunisia and on Iraq – pointing to changing security concepts reflecting changing security practices.

Reaching for allies? The dialectics and overlaps between international relations and area studies in the study of politics, security and conflicts

“…The different contributions point to similar theoretical and conceptual issues within traditional IR debates, offering alternative lenses to understand key political and security affairs. Specifically, the contributions gathered here touch upon the ‘IR/AS dialectics’ in terms of disciplinary development and menage to explore idiosyncrasies and key remaining dilemmas across regions of the world (e.g., Raineri and Baldaro 2021; Costantini and Hanau Santini 2021; De Franco 2022). The case of Europe analysed by Chiara De Franco, for instance, applies an AS approach to the region and it is functional to de-exoticize and de-orientalize the deep-seated meaning of AS itself.…”

“…Specifically, this Special Issue includes both contributions considering the ‘IR/AS dialectics’ in terms of disciplinary development (e.g. Dian 2021; Raineri and Baldaro 2021; Costantini and Hanau Santini 2021) and contributions empirically building bridges between IR and AS through case studies (e.g., Selenica 2021; Buscemi 2021). It also includes an article implicitly seeking to see ‘Europe’ with an Area Studies mindset (De Franco 2022), thus de-exoticizing and de-orientalizing the deep-seated meaning of Area Studies themselves.…”