Tribalism, Borders and States in the Middle East
Keywords:
Middle East, Islam, Bedouin, Borders, Tribalism, Culture, Regime, Governance
Abstract
This article reviews the terms “tribe” and “tribalism” in general, and their specific relevance, use and meaning in the Middle East and North Africa. It describes the borders of tribal migration and expansion and the diverse social, political and cultural impacts on other populations in a given area and the regime in various states. The article explains the difference between Arab tribes and the meaning of the term “tribe” in other parts of the world. It views the origin of the Arab tribes, their role in the spreading of Islam and their connection to the Arabic language, culture expansion as well as dominating the Middle East and North Africa. It looks at the status of tribes today in various countries in the region, and the return of tribal dominance in the post-Arab Spring era. The article reviews the political structure of various states in the region and discusses the administrative, social and political differences between countries whose administration remained tribal, or was built according to the tribal model, and states operating in different political systems. It also discusses the impact of the Arab Spring on the region; it describes tribalism’s challenge to various states, the politicization of tribalism, and the status of tribes in various states, explaining why different regimes had been influenced differently by the return of tribalism dominance. It discusses the regimes that did not lose control or managed to deal with the phenomenon and those that could not cope with the events, and either fell or are still struggling. Today, the embodiment of Arab culture and tribalism within Islam impacts everything from family relations, to governance, to conflict inside the state and conflicts with other states.
References
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Mencütek, Z. Ş. (2018) Refugee Governance, State and Politics in the Middle East. London: Routledge.
Mohammadpour, A., & Soleimani, K. (2019) Interrogating the tribal: The aporia of ‘tribalism’in the sociological study of the Middle East. The British journal of sociology, 70(5), 1799-1824.
Musa, A. M. (2018) The tribal impact on political stability in Sudan. Contemporary Arab Affairs, 11(1-2), 167-188.
Myers, C. N. (2013) Tribalism and democratic transition in Libya: Lessons from Iraq. Global Tides, 7(1,5), pp. 1- 29.
Paglia, P. (2007) Ethnicity and tribalism: Are these the root causes of the Sudanese civil conflicts? Africa Economic Analysis, 22-38. Retrieved July 30, 2022
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.553.8793&rep=rep1&type=pdf
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Rowland, J. (2009) Democracy and the tribal system in Jordan: Tribalism as a vehicle for social change’, Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection Paper 749). SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections. Retrieved Huly 30, 2022.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1740&context=isp_collection
Salzman, P. C. (1971) National integration of the tribes in modern Iran. Middle East Journal, 25(3), 325-336.
Salzman, P. C. (2008). The Middle East's tribal DNA. Middle East Quarterly, 15 (1), 23- 33.
Salzman, P. C., Street, B. V., & Wright, S. (1995). Understanding tribes in Iran and beyond. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 399-406.
Strakes, J. E. (2011) Arab and non-Arab tribes as state-like entities: Informal alliances and conflict patterns in the historic and contemporary Middle East. The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 2(2), 235-253.
Suwaed, M, (1992) Ha-Beduim Be-Eretz Israel bein Ha-Shanim 1803-1908 (The Bedouin in the land of Israel, 1803-1908). MA Thesis Bar- Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. (Hebrew)
Suwaed, M. (2015) Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Suwaed, M. (2022) Tribalism in the twenty-first century. Reshimot Benosah Habeduim, (52), 7- 16. (Hebrew).
Tapper, R. (Ed.) (2011). Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan. London: Routledge.
Tetik, M. O. (2020) “Nomads” and “Mountaineers”: A Historical Survey of Turk/Turkmen–Kurd Interrelations. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi, 7(1), 111-136.
Zain, M. E. (1996) Tribe and religion in Sudan. Review of African Political Economy, 23(70), 523-529.
Zeedan, R. (2019) Arab-Palestinian Society in the Israeli Political System: Integration Versus Segregation in the Twenty-first Century. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Baram, A. (1997) Neo-tribalism in Iraq: Saddam Hussein's tribal policies 1991–96. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 29(1), 1-31.
Brehony, N. (2020) War in Yemen: No end in sight as the state disintegrates. Asian Affairs, 51(3), 510-527.
Bruinessen, M. V. (1992) Agha, Shaikh and State. The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan. London: Zed Books.
Chatty, D. (Ed.) (2018) Nomadic societies in the Middle East and North Africa: Entering the 21st century. Leiden: Brill.
Cherstich, I. (2014). When tribesmen do not act tribal: Libyan tribalism as ideology (not as schizophrenia). Middle East Critique, 23(4), 405-421.
Chigudu, D. (2019) Demystifying the root causes of conflict in old “Greater” Sudan: Ethnicity and tribalism? Journal of Developing Societies, 35(2), 303-318.
Del Río Sánchez, F. (2019) Arab tribalism and urban environments: Alternative models of social organization. The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 10(4), 367-377.
Del Sarto, R. A. (2014) Defining borders and people in the borderlands: EU policies, Israeli prerogatives and the Palestinians. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 52(2), 200-216.
Del Sarto, R. A. (2017) Contentious borders in the Middle East and North Africa: Context and concepts. International Affairs, 93(4), 767-787.
Dukhan, H. (2014) Tribes and tribalism in the Syrian uprising. Syria Studies, 6(2), 1-28.
Al-Fwal, S. M. (1974) Elm al-Ejthma'a al-Badwi (Bedouin Social Sciences). Cairo: Dar al-Nahda al-Arabiy.
Gardner, A. (2018) On Tribalism and Arabia. The London School of Economics and Political Science–Middle East Centre Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2018/08/02/on-tribalism-and-arabia/ Accessed, July 30, 21.
Godelier, M. (1977) The Concept of the “Tribe”: A Crisis Involving Merely a Concept or the Empirical Foundations of Anthropology Itself?’, Diogenes, 21, 1: 1–25.
Jamal, A. (2011) Arab Minority Nationalism in Israel: The Politics of Indigeneity. London: Routledge.
Khoury, P. S., & Kostiner, J. (Eds.) (1990). Tribes and state formation in the Middle East. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Kohn, M., Meir, A., & Kissinger, M. (2020) Spatial constraints, environmental hazards and Bedouin in Israel: Towards spatial conceptualization of a changing Indigenous society. GeoJournal, 85(1), 1-18.
Masharkah, M. Z. (1988). Al-Haya al-Ajthma'iya End al-Badu Fe al-Watan al-Arabi (Social life among Bedouins in the Arab world. Damascus: Dar Tlas.
Meir, A., & Karplus, Y. (2018) Production of space, intercultural encounters and politics: Dynamics of consummate space and spatial intensity among the Israeli Bedouin. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 43(3), 511-524.
Mencütek, Z. Ş. (2018) Refugee Governance, State and Politics in the Middle East. London: Routledge.
Mohammadpour, A., & Soleimani, K. (2019) Interrogating the tribal: The aporia of ‘tribalism’in the sociological study of the Middle East. The British journal of sociology, 70(5), 1799-1824.
Musa, A. M. (2018) The tribal impact on political stability in Sudan. Contemporary Arab Affairs, 11(1-2), 167-188.
Myers, C. N. (2013) Tribalism and democratic transition in Libya: Lessons from Iraq. Global Tides, 7(1,5), pp. 1- 29.
Paglia, P. (2007) Ethnicity and tribalism: Are these the root causes of the Sudanese civil conflicts? Africa Economic Analysis, 22-38. Retrieved July 30, 2022
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.553.8793&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Panossian, V. (2021) From tribalism to sectarianism: An attempt at theorizing constitutional othering in contemporary Levant. International Journal of Žižek Studies, 15(1). file:///C:/Users/DELL/Downloads/1196-2679-1-PB.pdf
Plonski, S. (2018) Material footprints: The Struggle for borders by Bedouin‐Palestinians in Israel. Antipode, 50(5), 1349-1375.
Rowland, J. (2009) Democracy and the tribal system in Jordan: Tribalism as a vehicle for social change’, Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection Paper 749). SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections. Retrieved Huly 30, 2022.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1740&context=isp_collection
Salzman, P. C. (1971) National integration of the tribes in modern Iran. Middle East Journal, 25(3), 325-336.
Salzman, P. C. (2008). The Middle East's tribal DNA. Middle East Quarterly, 15 (1), 23- 33.
Salzman, P. C., Street, B. V., & Wright, S. (1995). Understanding tribes in Iran and beyond. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 399-406.
Strakes, J. E. (2011) Arab and non-Arab tribes as state-like entities: Informal alliances and conflict patterns in the historic and contemporary Middle East. The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 2(2), 235-253.
Suwaed, M, (1992) Ha-Beduim Be-Eretz Israel bein Ha-Shanim 1803-1908 (The Bedouin in the land of Israel, 1803-1908). MA Thesis Bar- Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. (Hebrew)
Suwaed, M. (2015) Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Suwaed, M. (2022) Tribalism in the twenty-first century. Reshimot Benosah Habeduim, (52), 7- 16. (Hebrew).
Tapper, R. (Ed.) (2011). Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan. London: Routledge.
Tetik, M. O. (2020) “Nomads” and “Mountaineers”: A Historical Survey of Turk/Turkmen–Kurd Interrelations. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi, 7(1), 111-136.
Zain, M. E. (1996) Tribe and religion in Sudan. Review of African Political Economy, 23(70), 523-529.
Zeedan, R. (2019) Arab-Palestinian Society in the Israeli Political System: Integration Versus Segregation in the Twenty-first Century. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Published
2023-01-21
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