Keshavarzian, Arang. Making Space for the Gulf: Histories of Regionalism and the Middle East. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2024. 324 pages. Paperback $30.00
This study is a ground-breaking narrative of the history of the Gulf. Making Space for the Gulf reconfigures the Persian Gulf to include Iran, Iraq, and the Arabian peninsula, not as a location on maps, or as one of the most important regions to be “possessed, monitored, and compared with other regions,” nor as an area to be “secured, contained, and filled,” (7) as many standard histories represented it. Such narratives, according to Arang Keshavarzian, have essentialized the Gulf as a unified, homogenized location that marginalized the societies and peoples. The author reads the Gulf by reconceptualizing space as an alternative site in which societies and people have been active participants in the production of specific histories and cultures. Space here is conceived as relational, an approach that explores the relations among diverse and multiple people who inhabit spaces and interact with each other and with the spaces and geographies they inhabit and beyond. It is this process that launched the making of regional formation and global capitalism. If the Gulf is a “unique and specifically constrained space within societies,” as the author suggests, then it is possible to map out “how society shapes space and vice versa” (8–9, italics in the original). And this is what Keshavarzian sets out to do.
The book comprises five chapters with an introduction, a conclusion, and several helpful maps. The introduction lays out the theoretical framework and plan for the book. Chapter 1, “Boundless Regionalism,” examines the Gulf waterways that have connected the Gulf people with others in faraway lands, as they navigated their living needs and necessities across ports, the pearl and date trading routes, and other commodities. We learn that the Gulf people made economic connections with East Africa, South Asia, Europe, and North America, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Chapter 2, “Imperial Enclosure,” explores how the mobility and cross-fertilization of the Gulf challenged the British Empire while recognizing its protection. Before World War I and in the first decades of the twentieth century, Britain’s interests drove its intervention in the Gulf to secure its imperial strategies and capitalist investments, with India being its most precious colony. Then, imperial Britain perceived the Gulf as an enclosed territory that needed protection, an abstraction that was carried over into the 1970s and the twenty-first century, with the US being the leading Western hegemon. Chapter 3, “Divided Sovereignties,” explains the “native” aspirations for self-determination and independent sovereign nations from the 1930s onward. The author juxtaposes the processes of state formation in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and what came to be known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Except for Iran and Iraq, the territorial sovereignty of all the composite-Gulf is in the hands of the ruler or ruling family, not with the people who had protested against the presence of foreigners, demanded representation, and called for an end to British imperialism. Needless to say, the rulers’ alignments with Britain and later the US have sustained the ruling families and “assimilated” the nation-states into the “realm of international law” (119) and capitalist globalism. Had the author mentioned the drawbacks of the cooperation between the Gulf rulers and the imperial West, it would have problematized the questions of the nation-state and divergence from grassroots hopes.
Oil revenues and capital accumulation are the subject of Chapter 4. Keshavarzian reveals how the wealthy enclaves launched the Gulf into globalism from the 1970s onward. He takes the two cases of the two free trading zones (FTZ), Iran’s Kish Island and Dubai’s Jebel Ali, as constructs of collaboration between state and corporation to link the emerging East Asian economy with the global consumer market and capital circulation. The FTZ were transformed early into global centers, “global cities,” in which capitalists collaborated transnationally to accumulate wealth without the burden of the rules of taxation and other trade regulations. This benefited and sustained the countries’ national boundaries and the central authorities of the ruling families (19). The last chapter, “Urbanism Rebounded,” delves into urbanization, the building of cities, and social formation. The author traces the development of port cities into capital cities, peoples’ movement, ideas, and revenues, which were structured across Gulf cities and the Globe at large. The significance of “migration, transnational urban design, and capital accumulation” is discussed, as these intersected with labor organization and maltreatment of laborers; questions of citizenship, nationalism, and belonging; demographic threat (by migrant labor) and foreign investments; and inter-states competition and the transformation of space within the region. A major question comes to mind: Given the twenty-first-century focus on the people’s rights to participate in governance, to be ruled democratically, and to enjoy the benefits of their countries’ natural resources, how long will the authoritarian regimes in the Gulf last?
Making Space for the Gulf is a valuable contribution to the history of the Gulf which continues to play a major role in global geopolitics and economics. The book would appeal to scholars and students in Gulf and Middle East studies, economics and international politics, and studies of the oil industry, nationalism, and nation formation.
Al-Anani, Khalil. Editor. Islamism and Revolution across the Middle East. Foreword by Peter Mandaville. London: I. B. Tauris, 2023. 184 pages. Paperback $39.95
This multi-disciplinary comparative study inaugurates a new series, titled, Critical Studies on Islamism Series by I.B. Tauris. Assembled in this work are nine critical articles about the changes or lack thereof undertaken by Islamist groups in seven Arab countries that have experienced revolutionary or minor protests in the Arab Spring, the Uprisings, of 2010–2011. The volume contextualizes the historical, political, and economic specificities of the various Islamist organizations across the region and analyzes the different responses to the Uprisings and beyond. Islamism and Revolution across the Middle East is a welcome analysis of the current state of Islamism as an ideology, strategy, and organization, given the significance of political Islam locally, regionally, and globally. This brief review will touch upon four countries: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, and Syria.
The book comprises nine chapters, including the introduction by editor Khalil al-Anani. He offers an overview of the themes tackled by the scholars as they attempt to answer two major questions. 1) In what ways did the Arab Spring impact the ideology, strategy, and organization of Islamists in the post-Uprising decade? 2) How do we explain the varied responses among Islamists, and what do the variations show about the groups’ diversity and homogeneity? Juxtaposing the discussion of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (Chapter 2) with the Tunisian Ennahda Party (Chapter 3) illuminates a dramatic contrast. Al-Anani’s analysis in Chapter 2 is insightful regarding the conservative, inexperienced Egyptian Brotherhood that led to its inability to adapt to the needed revolutionary changes the Uprising was seeking. After being elected, the Brotherhood focused on promoting its members’ interests, while Morsi’s lack of experience in governance caused his ousting from the presidency. On the other hand, in Tunisia, the attitude toward a change of the Ennahda Party’s liberal stance, as discussed by Tarek Chamkhi in Chapter 3, allowed it to transform its ideology, discourse, and strategy, thus securing electoral votes and participation in the Tunisian parliament. We also learn that Ennahda leaders and representatives learned the ropes of political engagement. Chapter 4 focuses on Morocco, and Chapter 5 explores the Islamist groups in Syria. The adaptability and flexibility of the Moroccan Party of Justice and Development (PJD) paved the way to winning the elections and remaining in power long-term. Another reason that aided the PJD is its collaboration with the monarchy, whose open political policy welcomed the Party’s participation in governance. Thus “stability and coexistence” were achieved (35). The Syrian multi-factional Islamists were also successful in uniting, revising their vision, and collaborating together to counter Bashar Assad’s authoritarian regime. They accepted the creation of a civil democratic state that guarantees liberty and the right to religious preaching (da’wa). Unfortunately, the movement was defeated by the Russian military campaign.
Islamism and Revolution across the Middle East provides excellent scholarship about the intricate, complex question of Islamism, with a richly detailed analysis that is informative and persuasive. It would be a good primer for both undergraduate and graduate students of Middle East, Islamic, and international studies, and religious and cultural studies.
Cobban, Helena, and Rami G. Khouri. Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters. New York: OR Books, 2024. 244 pages. Paperback $17.96
This publication about Hamas could not have been released at a more auspicious moment. Israel’s horrific Genocide against Gaza, which was launched more than a year ago, on October 8, 2023, has not only flattened North Gaza into rubble, displaced 2.3 Palestinians from their homes, and murdered more than 43,000 people, most of whom are women and children. The Gaza Strip has become unfit for human habitation. Israel’s military assault on Gaza, which has also spread to Lebanon, has been ongoing since the Palestinian Islamist Movement, Hamas, succeeded in breaching Israel’s highly secured borders on October 7, 2023, after decades of Israeli blockade, what Israeli historian Ilan Pappe described as the “the biggest prison on earth.” According to Israeli sources, Hamas forces killed 1200 Israelis and took about 250 prisoners. Additionally, a broad propaganda campaign to demonize Hamas and spread misinformation about the Palestinian national movement accompanied Israel’s Genocide. Hence the significance of this publication.
The book is the print form of the public-education campaigns that were launched by the board of the not-for-profit organization Just World Educational, 1 in Spring 2024. Writer, journalist, political activist, and executive president Helena Cobban, and writer, political analyst, and board member Rami Khoury launched an informative global campaign and organized webinars for concerned citizens, to challenge the vilification of Hamas by many Western media outlets and political leaders. The webinars were “Conversations” by Cobban and Khoury and five experts whose independent scholarship about Hamas and its development is deeply respected. What is interesting about the book is the decision to keep the Q and A format of the web Conversations, which continues the informal accessibility of the original project. In the introduction, Cobban and Khoury explain the rationale behind their project, give a brief profile of the experts, and provide an outline of the chapters of the book in 13 bullet points, which frame the main themes of the Conversations. The book also includes six appendixes of important documents regarding Hamas’ principles and policies, a list of names, a glossary of political terms, and a short bibliography.
The bullet points are organized around basic questions people are asking about Hamas at this juncture of Palestinian history. These questions include the origins and development of Hamas; the spread of the movement’s network across Gaza, the Occupied Territories, and beyond; and the balance between the two aspects of resistance: the military and the political. While most resistance movements in the global South are labeled “terrorist” by the West, the general tone of the book and the rest of the included documents remain objective and factual. The Conversations, for example, clarify the differences between the PLO and ISIS on the one hand and Hamas on the other. Another aspect that is worth mentioning is Hamas’ ability to reach out to the leaders of the PLO and participate in the democratically held elections in 2006, among other local races at various times. Hamas’ legacy hinges on its support by many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The excerpts of Hamas’ revised 1917 “Document of General Principles and Policies” (Appendix 3) demonstrate the national movement’s deep understanding of the importance of the land and the Palestinian people; the concept of liberation of Palestine and the Right of Return; and the “racist, aggressive, colonial and expansionist project” of Zionism (177), all of which are clearly defined, factual, and measured. What emerges is a concrete and committed vision of resistance that is dynamic, inclusive, and humanitarian.
Understanding Hamas is an excellent primer about the Palestinian national movement, one that should be read by everyone who is interested in understanding the Palestine question and the broader situation of the Middle East region more broadly.