Arab and Non-Arab Tribes as State-Like Entities: Informal Alliances and Conflict Patterns in the Historic and Contemporary Middle East

Abstract

The process of postwar reconstruction in Iraq since 2003 has revolutionized the significance of Arab and other tribes in policy approaches toward the Middle East. However, much attention directed at tribal structures during this period has focused on engagement with influential sheikhs with the aim of promoting stability rather than identifying tribes’ role as informal organizations in a context of altered Iraqi state formation. This study instead conceptualizes tribal confederations and sub-tribes as state-like actors that function at both the international and the domestic level. I examine historical precedents of tribal alliance formation, conflict resolution and security mechanisms, coalitions and political participation, and variations in interactions across ethnic groups, and consider their implications for present-day Iraq and its neighboring states.