Alternative forms of government and statehood exist in the Middle East and North African regions. The chapters in this volume demonstrate this and explore the notion of power from a non-statist perspective, highlighting the limits of states and their governance.

Using empirical evidence from Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, Yemen, and Mali, the authors explore non-standard cases where power may be retained by a state but must be shared with a number of local actors, resulting in limited statehood and hybrid governance, which leads to competition and sharing of symbolic and political power within a state.

This book is intended to prompt a critical reflection on the meaning of governance. It will illuminate informal structures which deserve attention when studying governance and power dynamics within a state or a region. This book was originally published as a special issue of Small Wars & Insurgencies.

About the Author

Abel Polese is a Senior Research Fellow at Dublin City University, Ireland. He is a writer, development worker, scholar, amateur photographer and musician who is mainly interested in the dichotomy between formal and informal modes and structures of governance. He is the author of The Scopus Diaries and the Illogics of Academic Survival (2018).

Ruth Hanau Santini is Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations at Universita L'Orientale in Naples, Italy, and Associate Fellow at the Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus Studies' Institute at the University of St. Andrews, UK. She is interested in the domestic and international politics of the MENA region and, more broadly, in state-society relations, citizenship, and changing understandings of democracy. Her work includes Limited statehood in post-revolutionary Tunisia. Citizenship, economy and security (2018).

Book Information
ISBN 9780367662325
Author Abel Polese
Format Paperback
Page Count 234
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g