How Border Peripheries are Changing the Nature of Arab States

Description

This book addresses the multiple dimensions of the limited reach, or breakdown, of central authority in border regions of Arab states, and their implications for state sovereignty and modes of governance. These include the emergence of illicit networks of exchange, the rise of new nonstate actors in border regions, including paramilitary or jihadi groups, and the transformation of border areas into areas of regional conflict. Collectively, the essays in this volume address such processes, which have been observable in conflict-stricken countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and in fragile political or economic contexts, like the ones in Lebanon, Tunisia, and Algeria, as well as in relatively stable Emirates such as Kuwait. The contributions also shed light on how border peripheries in the Arab world have impacted the center of political and economic power in their states.  Acknowledgments Contents Notes on Contributors Abbreviations List of Maps Chapter 1: Introduction Consolidating the Center Governance Failures and Alternate Centers of Authority What Can the State Achieve? Redefining Sovereignty from the Periphery Back to the Future? Chapter 2: Smuggling and State Formation: A Match Made in Algeria Introduction Why Smuggling Is Economically Attractive The Smugglers’ Rationale Sharing Sovereignty Conclusion Chapter 3: Cronies and Contraband: Why Integrating Tunisia’s Informal Economic Elite Has Become Necessary Introduction The Emergence of Two Economic Elites The Post-2011 Economy and the Failure to Integrate Peripheral Elites The Costs of Failing to Integrate the Elites of the Informal Economy Conclusion Chapter 4: North Pacific: Why Lebanon’s Akkar Region Weathered the Syrian Conflict Introduction A Tale of Two Countries Akkar’s Impact on Beirut Conclusion Chapter 5: Transnationalization of a Borderland: Center, Periphery, and Identity in Western Iraq Introduction The Transformation of Center-Border Relations State Atrophy and the Rise of Transnational Jihadism The PKK and the Transnationalization of Iraq’s Northwestern Border Iran-Backed Paramilitaries: The Periphery’s Encroachment on the Center Conclusion: What Next? Chapter 6: How Syria’s War Extended Border Policies to Much of the Country Introduction Center-Periphery Relations Before 2011 The Borderlands Post-conflict: Accentuating the Security-Based Approach to Governance Employing Borderland Tactics in Non-borderland Peripheries How the Regime Manages Loyal and Ambivalent Peripheral Areas How the Regime Treats Rebellious Peripheral Areas Conclusion Chapter 7: Hadramawt’s Emergence as a Center: A Confluence of Yemeni Circumstances and Hadrami Resourcefulness Introduction A Historical Tendency Toward Autonomy Turning Hadramawt from a Periphery into a Center Hadramawt at the Mercy of Saudi-Emirati Rivalry Conclusion Chapter 8: The Center Gives: Southern Syria and the Rise of New Peripheral Powerbrokers Introduction Local Intermediaries as Instruments of State Domination Before 2011 How the Syrian Conflict Transformed Center-Periphery Relations The Rise of New Peripheral Powerbrokers in Daraa The Internationalization of Center-Periphery Relations Conclusion Chapter 9: On the Edge: How Risks from Iraq Have Helped Form Kuwaiti Identity Introduction A Contentious Border and Kuwaiti Insecurities Iraq and the Transformation of Kuwaiti National Identity Conclusion: Toward a Joint Identity and a Networked Border Index