conflictsxxi-2015

SUMMARY

Conflicts and Wars in the XXI century (Middle East and North Africa) / ed. by Vitaly V. Naumkin / Dina B. Malysheva / Institute of

Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 2015. – 504 p. – ISBN 978-5-89282-648-8

The monograph is an analytical study of conflicts and wars in the Middle East and North Africa in the XXI century. It reveals the conflict development in the context of the following problems: foreign interference into the local “deeply divided societies”, the transformation of the international political environment, external threats and internal challenges to the Arab economies, and “archaization” as a background of conflicts. The book explores the making of polycentric world order and how conflicts shape it. The authors identify main threats to regional security issues, and describe the strategy of the Gulf Cooperation Council (the GCC) aimed at solving long-standing conflicts. A number of conflicts (Israeli-Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Yemeni, Western Sahara) rooted in the previous historical periods are regarded. The authors explain how the Arab Spring made an influence on Libyan and Syrian conflicts, and political transformations in Egypt and Algeria are also revealed.

Special attention is given to the destructive activities of the “Islamic State” (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria due to the considerable urgency of the problem and the birth of IG threats to regional and international security.

The book will be of interest not only to those who professionally study Middle Eastern problems and to experts in conflict and religion but also to a wider range of readers interested in the actual problems of the Middle East and North Africa.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction (Dina Malysheva).

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PART I. Region-wide and global section

Chapter 1. Islamic radicalism and external interference into the deeply divided societies of the Middle East (Vitali Naumkin).

Chapter 2. Conflict in the Middle East in the context of transforming international and political environment (Dina Malysheva).

Chapter 3. Conflict Strategy of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the Middle East (Elena Melkumyan).

Chapter 4. The security of North African states in terms of political transformation (Vasily Kuznetsov).

Chapter 5. Arab economy: external threats and internal challenges (Alexander Filonik).

Chapter 6. ‘Archaization’ and conflicts in the Middle East (Irina Zviagelskaya).

PART II. New dimension of long-standing armed confrontations

Chapter 7. Islamic factor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Alexander Demchenko).

Chapter 8. ‘Seismography’ of the Lebanese systemic crisis (Aleksey Sarabyev).

Chapter 9. ‘Balkanization’ of Iraq: the factors of reproduction and distribution of political violence (Ildar Minyazhetdinov).

Chapter 10. Revolution and Conflicts in Yemen (Sergey Serebrov). Chapter 11. Western Sahara’s apple of discord (Maria Volodina).

PART III. Conflicts that were born off the Arab Spring

Chapter 12. Muslim Brotherhood’s Evolution in a post-revolutionary Egypt (Irina Mokhova).

Chapter 13. Internecine conflict in post-Gaddafian Libya (Alexander Podtserob).

Chapter 14. Syrian conflict (Boris Dolgov).

Chapter 15. Armed Islamist Opposition in Syrian conflict (Vladimir Ahmedov).

Chapter 16. The Algerian experience in the conflicts of the Arab Spring (Boris Dolgov).

Conclusion; Personalia; About authors; Summary

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