Book review: Zvyagelskaya, I.D. (Eds.). (2020). The Middle East: Politics and Identity. Moscow: Aspekt Press publ., 336 p. (In Russian)

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Alterações na Política Externa da Arábia Saudita: uma análise a partir do modelo de Hermann | Changes in Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Policy: an analysis under the Hermann’s model

O presente artigo busca analisar quais foram os graus de mudança percebidos na política externa da Arábia Saudita nas suas relações com China e Estados Unidos. Para a realização desta análise, utilizamos os conceitos cunhados por Charles Hermann (1990), que explicam as alterações em política externa de um país a partir de quatro graus de mudança e quatro fontes geradoras destas mudanças. Não obstante, a utilização de livros, artigos, notícias e documentos oficiais dos governos foram essenciais para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho. Assim, argumentamos que há um gradual deslocamento dos Estados Unidos para a China como parceiro prioritário do referido país a partir de 2010, tendência esta acelerada pelos choques externos, como a Primavera Árabe, a queda nos preços internacionais do petróleo e o afastamento dos Estados Unidos do Oriente Médio, e pela ascensão de Mohammed bin Salman ao poder executivo do Reino. Tal deslocamento está associado ao aumento na intensidade e à alteração dos meios pelos quais o país se relaciona com a China. Entretanto, reforçamos que esta tendência não significa um abandono, pela Arábia Saudita, de sua histórica relação com os Estados Unidos.Palavras-chave: Arábia Saudita; Política Externa; Hermann.ABSTRACTThe aim of this research is to analyze the levels of changes identified in Saudi Arabia's foreign policy in its relations with China and the United States. To carry out this analysis, we used the concepts formulated by Charles Hermann (1990) about levels and sources of change in a country's foreign policy. Nevertheless, the use of books, articles, news and official government documents were essential for the development of this article. Hence, we argue that there is a gradual shift from the United States to China as a priority partner of Saudi Arabia since 2010, a trend that has been accelerated by external shocks from the International System, such as the Arab Spring, the fall of the international oil prices and the United States withdraw from the Middle East politics and by the rise of Mohammed bin Salman to the executive power. Such a shift is associated with an increase in intensity and a change in the means by which the country relates to China. Notwithstanding, this trend does not mean that Saudi Arabia abandoned its historic relationship with the United States. Keywords: Saudi Arabia; Foreign Policy; Hermann. Recebido em: 28 abr. 2021 | Aceito em: 30 set. 2021.

‘What have the Ottomans ever done for us?’ Why history matters for politics in the Arab Middle East

Scholars of Middle East politics have been reluctant to explore how the long nineteenth century has shaped the region's political development. The reason for this neglect, I argue, is a common understanding of Ottoman decline and failed modernization, which suggests that the story of modern politics in the Middle East commences with colonial partition after the First World War. But what if political scientists are getting the story wrong? In this article, I argue that our background assumptions about the political development of the Middle East reflect outdated understandings that historians themselves have long left behind. Drawing on this revisionist Ottoman historiography, I show that key dynamics in Middle East politics today—such as state-building and sectarian identities—originate not in the era ushered in by the Sykes–Picot Accord, but in the transformations of the long nineteenth century. By overlooking the evolution of late Ottoman politics and their historical legacies, political scientists risk misdiagnosing key dynamics in the region's political development. ‘Bringing the Ottomans back in’ highlights to policy-makers the importance of the extra-institutional dimensions of statebuilding in the Middle East, and opens up new vistas for research in comparative–historical political science.

A STRATEGIC PUZZLE OF SAUDI-IRAN STRIFE AND FOREIGN POLICY CHOICES OF PAKISTAN (2013-18)

In diverse circumstances of region, Iran and Saudi Arabia have significant part in foreign policy of Pakistan. It is difficult for policy makers of Pakistan to retain acceptable relations and policies towards both countries at the same time because of severe contentions between the Iran and Saudi Arabia including the high interests of the main players in the Middle East Politics. The main objectives of research are to elucidate the different standpoints between Iran and Saudi Arabia and their impacts on policies of Pakistan. Different diplomatic, political and economic triangle developments among Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is discussed during last government tenure of PML (N). For this set out, the qualitative method with historical research design has been used, through argumentation procedure while complex interdependent theory applied to examine the nature of triangle relations and policies including their impacts on regional politics and economy. The study provides significant insights for its implication in the particular context with diverse outcomes.

What Are the Challenges to Peace? A Workshop on Conflict Analysis to Understand Middle East Politics

This article presents an innovative teaching and learning method based on collaborative and inquiry-based learning implemented in a Middle East Politics course. It consists of a series of online workshops in which students work in teams to analyze three different current conflicts in the region: Libya, Syria, and the Israeli-Palestinian. The aim of this method was twofold: on the one hand, to create a reflexive setting to help students acquire the most comprehensive possible knowledge about the conflict's causes and dynamics, the concerns and priorities of the main actors involved or affected by the conflict, and major obstacles to its resolution; on the other hand, to enhance a set of key cognitive, skill-based, and affective learning outcomes, which are essential skills in Political Science and other related areas such as International Studies. This study shows that teaching and learning methodologies based on collaborative and inquiry-based learning are suitable tools to facilitate the understanding of multifaceted, complex realities and to generate new perspectives and views on unfamiliar contexts. This research also suggests that facilitating the active involvement of students in their self-learning can contribute to successful online teaching and to foster the acquisition of key cognitive, skill-based, and affective learning outcomes.

Iran and Israel: The Inevitable War?

This article reviews the ascendance of Iran in Middle East politics, the Iranian nuclear program, and the strategic implications of Iranian aspirations, which all increase the likelihood of direct armed conflict between Israel and Iran. It concludes that Iran’s nuclear and hegemonic ambitions remain uncurbed. Whatever efforts at “regime change” were made were unsuccessful, and Iran remains undeterred. Therefore, the likelihood of direct armed conflict between Israel and Iran is great.