The State in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

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.