The Nation-State as a Fundamental Research Unit in Middle Eastern Studies: Reconsidering the Concept and Proposing Alternative Research Frameworks

The study of Syrian politics allows us to engage in multiple debates current in contemporary political science. Syria exemplifies the problematic of nation-building as few states have been afflicted with such a radical disjuncture between territory and identity. As the Syrian state started out as notoriously unstable, its history allows us to understand the techniques and conditions in which stable authoritarian states have been constructed in the third world and Middle East. Syria fits well with the literature on authoritarian persistence and the failure of democratization in the Middle East. In this respect, Syria provides material relevant to topics such as neo-patrimonialism, the role of the military in politics and also single party systems. Syria also provides material for studies of political economy, including such debates as the failure of populist roads to development, agrarian reform, of the role and character of state-bourgeoisies and the difficulties of transition from statistcentred to market economies. Finally, at the level of foreign policies, Syria’s role is quite distinctive, considered by some to be a rogue state and by others exemplifying rare defiance of US hegemony and resistance to globalization.

Introduction: Area Studies and Study Abroad in the 21st Century

In 1971 Elie Kedourie had been working on Middle Eastern history for two decades. He then defined the 'key' to The Chatham House Version, which he had just published, as the 'wish to rescue history from prescription and prophecy'. For him accounts of the past shaped by the desire to prescribe policy or to forecast the future, according to some vision or prearranged pattern, 'failed as history'.' It is questionable whether his definition is enough to encompass all his later work. His mind and interests ranged so widely that they have defied simplistic and sometimes hostile explanations that have been advanced for his underlying motives. Nevertheless, he had the knack of expressing, slightly ironically, large and complicated issues in a succinct and arresting phrase. Kedourie's formula is perhaps as sound and consistent as any that has been offered to explain, in a single sentence, his approaches to both history and political thought. His work in both fields helped form his conception of relationships between historians and politicians. To consider his attitude to such relationships it is appropriate to recall, first, some elements in his academic work which essentially contributed to it. His fundamental view of history is certainly consistent with the insistence of many contemporary and earlier historians that history is about what happened and why, not about how events and the lives of men followed some prescribed pattern or course. About a decade after Kedourie was born, H.A.L. Fisher distanced himself from prescribers of patterns in some reflections on writing his History of Europe (1935):

The recent revival of interest in in American political science and sociology has not yet been widely reflected in Middle Eastern studies in the United States.' Compared with European or Latin American studies, Middle Eastern studies have contributed relatively little to the development of analytical approaches in political science and have been slow to incorporate new theoretical perspectives. Description has prevailed over analysis, and efforts to understand and interpret political life have as often emphasized the uniqueness of the region as they have illuminated avenues of comparison with other parts of the world.2 Insofar as Middle Eastern studies have shared the theoretical preoccupations of political science, the region has been the subject of what Skocpol has called the society-centered approaches which have dominated study of other regions since the second world war.3 Indeed, the Middle East has seemed to be a particularly appropriate focus for such a perspective. The roles of tribalism, sectarianism, regionalism, primordial sentiments, and ascriptive identities in Middle Eastern politics contributed to the view that the state is little more than an arena of socially engendered conflict or an instrument of family, sect, or class domination.

What future for Middle Eastern studies?

The Politics of Trade and Turkish Foreign Policy

As a small country with limited cultivated land and very few natural resources, Lebanon has always exhibited far greater dependence on the international economy than other countries in its region. Successive Lebanese governments have taken this dependence on the global economy as a given, trying to make it work to the advantage of the national economy.' In the postwar period (1990-present) Lebanese governments have striven to overcome the devastation caused by the war (which also severed many of Lebanon's links to the outside world) and restore growth to the national economy, largely by seeking closer ties with the Arab and European economies and greater integration into the global economy. As a prelude to the discussion of the three integration scenarios, the first part of the article provides some background information on the balance of trade and the composition and geographical distribution of Lebanon's foreign trade. The second, third and fourth parts discuss the three main integration scenarios, whilst the conclusion focuses on some of the problems involved in the simultaneous pursuit of all three projects, and speculates on whether or not Lebanon's policy-making elite possesses the will and the resources to overcome the challenges involved in transforming the local economy into a competitive one that is closely integrated with the Arab and European economies and immersed in the global economy.

Introducing the seventh issue of META, this editorial discusses prevalent concepts of culture in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Different conceptualizations of culture that explicitly or implicitly contain qualitative differentiations between cultures are revisited and discussed. Bearing considerable weight in the respective disciplines, the Islam-andthe-West paradigm, the delineation of diverging cultures along ethnic lines, the equation of culture with art or religion, and the culture-as-civilization paradigm are being scrutinized. Serving as an example for the confusion and lack of clarity regarding the concept of culture, the book The Culture of Ambiguity by the German scholar of Islamic Studies Thomas Bauer is analyzed regarding its use of the term.

This book explores the theology and philosophy of the distinguished modern Muslim scholar and theologian Bediuzzaman Said Nursi [d.1960]. Nursi wrote in both Ottoman Turkish and Arabic and his life and thought reflected the transition of modern Turkey from an empire to a secular republic. The contributors to this volume shed new light on two major dimensions of Nursi's thought: theodicy and justice. Classical Muslim theologians debated these two important issues; however, we must consider the modern debate of these issues in the context of the radical political and social transformations of modern Turkey. Nursi explored these matters as they related to the development of state and society and the crisis of Islam in the modern secular nation-state. Nursi is the founder of a 'faith movement' in contemporary Turkey with millions of followers worldwide. In this book, distinguished scholars in Islamic, Middle Eastern, and Turkish Studies explore Nursi's thought on theodicy and justice in comparison with a number of western philosophers, theologians, and men of letters, such as Dante, Merton, Kant, and Moltman. This book presents an invaluable resource for studies in comparative religion, philosophy, and Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Contents: Editors's introduction; Theodicy and the many meanings of Adam and Eve, Barbara Freyer Stowasser; Living life in the light of death: a conversation with Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Ian Markham; The resurrection of the dead and the final judgment in Said Nursi's thought, Thomas Michel; Proof of the resurrection of the dead: Said Nursi's approach, Sukran Vahide; Death in Said Nursi's thought, Bilal Kuspinar; La Siyyama: Nursi's treatise on al-Hashr in Mathnawi al-Nuriye, Lucinda Mosher; Resurrection in the writings of Bediuzzaman: comparative reflections with Christian theology, W. Mark Richardson; The resurrection of the dead: Said Nursi and Jurgen Moltman, Leo D. Lefebure; The problem of animal pain: Said Nursi's approach, Cuneyt M. Simsek; Justice, morality, and modernity: what makes the Risale-i Nur modern?, Dale F.Eickelman; 2 epistles of consolation: Al-Shahid al-Thani and Said Nursi on theodicy, Eric Ormsby; 'Landscape and melancholy': Said Nursi Dante Alighieri and the contexts of modernism, Gareth Jones; Said Nursi's approach to justice and its role for political reforms in the Muslim world, Leonid Sykiainen; Reflections on prayer and social justice in the thought of Thomas Merton and Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, David R. Law; God's justice in relation to natural disasters, Thomas Michel; Justice and balance in creation: said Nursi's analysis, Bilal Kuspinar; Nursi's compassion and Kant's categorical imperative: justice and ethics in building a better world, Ian Kaplow; Index. Ashgate Publishing, 2010 Language : English Country: United Kingtom Publishing House Tel: +44 125 233 15 51 Publishing House Fax: +44 125 234 44 05 Web: www.ashgate.com

This case study will focus on the COVID-19 lecturers’ experience in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (FAMES) at the University of Cambridge. After a brief background about how the academic year works in the University of Cambridge and an introduction about the situation after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK, the author will discuss about the measures taken by the faculty and the way the teaching was conducted in the FAMES in general and Persian language courses in particular. Then, the challenges and problems regarding online teaching in Department of Middle Eastern Studies (DMES) will be highlighted. Finally, a short explanation about the way the examination and assessment were handled in the faculty will be provided. The findings show excellent management and steady leadership turned the classic classroom-based teaching to remote and online teaching. Also, professional collaboration and performance of lecturers along with the ongoing technical and training support were the main factors to go through the critical phase of the pandemic’s impact successfully. It seems that the language teachers have gained valuable experience and skills in teaching languages differently, which can be deployed in future post pandemic situations.

Cities of the Arab World: Theory, Investigation, and Critique Salah D. Hassan (bio) On February 14 and 15, 2019, scholars came together on the campus of Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI, to discuss “Cities of the Arab World,” at a conference organized by Najib Hourani under the auspices of the Global Urban Studies Program in collaboration with the Muslim Studies Program, the Department of Anthropology, the College of Social Science, and in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Ann Arbor, MI. Papers presented in the course of the two-day interdisciplinary conference emphasized “Theory, Investigation, and Critique” in connection with urban studies of the Arab world. Over the two days, panelists presented their original research to a full house in the conference room at the MSU Union building. Rachel Croson, Dean of the College of Social Sciences at Michigan State University welcomed the participants and attendants, underlining the importance of the event for the university, the College, and the Global Urban Studies Programs. Igor Z. Vojnovic, Interim Director of Global Urban Studies further accentuated the uniqueness of the conference, one of the first major events organized by the program, whose staff served as the fulcrum for a rich partnership with several academic units at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. In his welcoming address, Najib Hourani, associate professor of anthropology and global urban studies, and the principal organizer of the conference, conveyed the importance of pushing the boundaries of research [End Page 135] in urban studies and Middle Eastern studies by bringing the two fields together in more complex and challenging ways. He noted the growth in the field of urban studies, which has only recently begun to take up the specific character of Arab cities, whose histories and 21st century transformations remain on the periphery of mainstream scholarship on cities. According to Hourani: “despite the revival and growth of Urban and Middle East/Muslim studies, these two interdisciplinary fields rarely speak to each other, even as the study of Arab cities in particular, has taken off over the last decade. Indeed, the theoretical works and debates that drive urban studies remain beholden to European and North American experiences, and so rarely engage or learn from Arab cities, their histories or contemporary dynamics. For example, while the literature engaging neoliberal urbanism has exploded in the last decade and a half, Arab cities (the occasional reference to Dubai, notwithstanding) are absent from the major collections that theorize the concept. At the same time, research on Arab cities is only now beginning to engage and redirect dominant strains of urban theory. How might in-depth study of Arab cities enrich urban theory? How might theoretically-driven explorations further enrich our understandings of Arab cities, in all of their complexity and diversity?” Hourani’s opening remarks provided the necessary frame for understanding the importance of this timely conference. Day One (February 14, 2019): Cities of the Arab World Panel I “Projecting Cities” included papers that addressed uniquely complicated developments in Gulf cities. Eva Kassens-Noor (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI) presented research on “Mega-event Planning in the Arab World: A Case Study of Dubai’s 2020 World Exposition,” highlighting the struggle over ownership of the city during the event, and examining how mega-event legacies are understood. Her investigation looks at political, economic, and cultural influences shaping the 2020 World Exposition in Dubai and examines how developments related to the Expo are having an impact on Dubai’s urban planning. She concludes that the neoliberal tendencies associated with mega-events have significantly transformed Dubai’s urban and socio-cultural landscape, eroding further Arab urban culture in the Gulf. Gökçe Günel (University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ) provided a snapshot of the extensive original research on Masdar City that she has done for her recently published book Spaceship in the Desert: Energy, Climate Change and Urban Design in Abu Dhabi (Duke University Press, 2019). The paper summarized the main points of the book, underlining the political-economy of the utopian project of Masdar City. Günel’s research exposes the contradictory and often opportunistic features of the...

Everyone knows that the work of scholars in America is often considered to be irrelevant to the real issues of life. According to the mild anti-intellectualism that seems to be an endemic feature of American culture, anything that is “academic” is automatically impractical, complex, and impenetrable—in short, it is bad. This is a little hard for professors to live with; no one likes being called a pointy-headed intellectual or an egghead. The very skills and specializations that are the keys to academic success can be seen by the public as defects that remove scholars from the sphere of ordinary existence and disqualify their pronouncements. Here I would like to argue that the gap between academics and an unappreciative public is in good part a function of the language and style of communication that scholars commonly practice in all fields. But if in fact there are large segments of the public who are keenly interested in issues relating to subjects like Middle Eastern studies, or the study of Islam, it should be possible for academics to communicate the results of their labor in clear and meaningful ways. If qualified scholars do not respond to the demands of the public, we know what the alternative is: the public will remain content with the standard media sources of information and disinformation.

With this book, Michael Herb makes a significant contribution to the debate on monarchism and its resiliency in the Middle East and North Africa. Relying on archival materials, a small number of interviews, and secondary literature, Herb compares the fortunes of twelve monarchies in the Middle East and North Africa and one monarchy in Afghanistan. By comparing the fate of eight successful monarchies with that of five failed monarchies, Herb seeks to understand which variable best accounts for the success of monarchical rule. A secondary task of the work is to evaluate the future of monarchical institutions in the Middle East and North Africa. Herb asks, “Is revolution—the destruction of these institutions—a necessary step toward political development in the region? Is it possible that political development can occur in the Middle East as it did in some places in Europe, through the adaptation and evolution of traditional institutions, rather than through their destruction?” (p. 256).

Despite the physical proximity of the birthplace of Subaltern Studies, South Asia, to the Middle East and despite the convergent, colliding histories of these two regions, scholars of the Middle East attend very little to the Subaltern Studies project or to the work of Subaltern Studies groups. Although certain stances of Fanon and Said, with their focus on cultural strategies of domination and resistance, have a currency in Middle Eastern studies, no literary theorist, folklorist, anthropologist, political scientist or historian in the field of Middle Eastern Studies, so far as I am aware, explicitly draws upon Subaltern Studies with any consistency as an organizing principle for his or her studies. It is the Latin Americanists (and to a lesser degree Africanists) who have been most eager to build on South Asian Subaltern Studies to respond to Latin American (or subsanaran African) circumstances. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look at what Subaltern Studies might contribute to Middle Eastern studies if we were to make a sustained effort to apply and critique that body of literature.

Middle Eastern Studies Librarians: An Ambivalent Professional Identity