Re-Ordering the Middle East? Peoples, Borders and States in Flux

This report summarises the proceedings of an international conference convened within the framework of the New-Med Research Network in Amman on 18 July 2016 and organised by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the University of Jordan’s Center for Strategic Studies (CSS). Invited experts addressed the question of borders, ethnicities and confessions in the MENA from World War I to the present. Participants explored whether the precedent set by the decisions taken during and after the Great War can ultimately be linked to the present unravelling of state authority in the region. Session two moved to address the phenomenon of power vacuums and state fragility, the emergence of non-state and quasi-state actors and their impact on the intensification of inter-state rivalry and conflict. The final panel focused on the relationship between socio-economic, political and military developments in the Middle East, including the role of foreign powers and sub-national, ethnic and religious minorities.

Report of the international conference “Re-Ordering the Middle East? Peoples, Borders and States in Flux” held in Amman on 18 July 2016 and jointly organised by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the University of Jordan’s Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) within the framework of the New-Med Research Network.