Vol. 3 No. 012 (2015): Issue 012

ACRPS has published issue 12 of the bi-monthly peer-reviewed academic journal Siyasat Arabia for political science, international relations, and public policy. This edition includes the articles: "The Rise of ISIL and Shifts in the Regional Order in the Levant" (Marwan Kabalan); “US-Iranian Military Coordination against ISIL: A Step towards Alliance!” (ACRPS Policy Analysis Unit); "Regional Failure in the Mix of External Powers and Armed Factions" (Mishari Hamad Ruwaih); “The 2014 Tunisian Elections: Phases and Outcomes” (Riad Bashir); "Morocco and Algeria: Uneasy Neighbors” (Mohamed Meziane); "Morocco’s Strategy of Economic Diplomacy: An Expanded Field  with Multiple Actors" (Yusuf Sidqi); "Israeli Knesset Elections: Netanyahu's Position Eroded, the Right's Power Redoubled" (ACRPS Policy Analysis Unit); "Ceasefire Negotiations between Israel and Hamas in the Light of Operation Protective Edge" (Ashraf Badr); "The Coming Eastern Alliance: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Trend towards Universalism" (Abdelhak Dahmane); "External Influences in the Wrangling over Yemen" (Ali Hassan Muqbil  Sha’than); "The Russian Position on Arab Revolutions: The Cases of Libya, Egypt and Syria” (Nawar Jalil Hashem and Amjad Zein El Abidine Tohme); and "Trends in Arab Public Opinion toward the United States of America" (Mohammed al-Masri).In addition, the twelfth issue of Siyasat Arabia features a review of the report: "Government Spending in 2014 in the Republic of Iraq" by Abdel Wahab al-Qassab; a book review entitled "Pre-fabricated Books and the Promotion of Experts of Limited Experience: Interpreting The Jihadis Return” by HamzehMustafa; a review of Wael Hallaq’s The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity's Moral Predicament" by Khalid Walid Mahmoud. The journal also covers the most important milestones of democratic transformation in the Arab world and events in Palestine during November and December 2014, along with two event reports, the first on the ACRPS Conference "From Peoples' Revolutions to an Arena of Regional and International Conflict: The Rise of ISIL and Renewed American Involvement", and the second on a seminar in Beijing on Sudan and South Sudan.

Original Website (English) | Original Website (Arabic)

Published: 2015-01-01

Articles

  • Rise of the ‘Islamic State’ and Shifts in the Levant’s Regional System

    Author: Marwan Kabalan
    5-19
    Following the transformations in the Levant’s regional system since the beginning of World War II to the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, this paper examines the new context of...
  • Regional Failure: Between Foreign Powers and Armed Groups

    Author: Mishari Hamad Ruwaih
    23-29
    One of the most important gains of Tunisia’s revolution has been that elections are no longer subject to interior ministry supervision. A look at these elections reveals a process managed by a...
  • Tunisia’s 2014 Elections: Phases and Results

    Author: Riad Bashir
    30-39
    One of the most important gains of Tunisia’s revolution has been that elections are no longer subject to interior ministry supervision. A look at these elections reveals a process managed by a...
  • US-Iranian Military Coordination Against ISIL: Toward Alliance

    Author: Policy Analysis Unit- ACRPS
    20-22
    In redefining central concepts and causal relations, this paper takes a fresh look at the conflict between armed groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the US-led...
  • Morocco and Algeria: A Neighborly Dispute

    Author: Mohamed Meziane
    41-54
    Borders between Morocco and Algeria have been closed since the Hotel Atlas Asni terrorist attacks in Marrakech on August 24, 1994. Investigations found the groups that carried out the attacks had...
  • Morocco’s Economic Diplomacy: An Expanding Field with Multiple Actors

    Author: Yusuf Sidqi
    55-71
    This study attempts to identify the roles of economic diplomacy actors inside and outside capital cities. By presenting international examples it creates a comparative study to explain the...
  • Israel’s Knesset Elections: Decline of Netanyahu’s Popularity and Rise of the Right-Wing

    Author: Policy Analysis Unit- ACRPS
    72-76
    Israel’s Knesset was dissolved on December 8, 2014, and the following elections were scheduled for March 17 2015. This paper discusses the reasons why Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu held...
  • Seeking Truce: Operation Protective Edge and Negotiations between Israel and Hamas

    Author: Ashraf Badr
    77-91
    A close look at negotiations seeking a truce deal between Israel and Hamas reveal a conflict approached by the two parties using game theory. Seeking to understand Hamas’ shift toward active player...
  • Next Oriental Alliance: Shanghai Cooperation Organization Seeking Universality

    Author: Abd al-Haqq Dahman
    92-103
    The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is taken here as a nucleus for new policies and powerful alliances that seek to establish a new world order; an order where the organization acts as a...
  • External Influences on the Yemeni Conflict

    Author: Ali Hassan Muqbil Sha’than
    104-111
    External influence has played a central role in the Yemeni conflict. Powers seeking to extend power and establish dominance have manipulated Yemen’s diversity as a way to gain influence. Other...
  • Russia’s Stance on the Revolutions in Libya, Egypt and Syria

    Author: Nawar Jalil Hashem, Amjad Zein El Abidine Tohme
    112-126
    Russia has not specified its national interests in the Middle East or the Arab World since the 1990s. This paper discusses Russia’s shift toward a more active and effective role in the Middle East,...
  • Arab Public Attitudes towards the United States Cited once

    Author: Mohammed al-Masri
    129-140
    This paper presents the findings of a public opinion poll on Arab attitudes towards the policies of the United States government. The survey questions addressed attitudes towards a set of specific...
  • Milestones in Democratic Transition in Arab World

    143-147
    ​This report highlights some of the major milestones of the Arab democratic transition during 1/11/2014-31/12/2014
  • Palestine Over Two Months

    148-152
    ​This report chronicles some of the most significant developments relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict during 3/11/2014- 31/12/2014
  • From Popular Revolutions to Regional Interventions: the Rise of ISIL and Renewed US Intervention

    Author: Hamzeh Almoustafa
    176-186
    The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and its capture of vast territories in the Fertile Crescent, has confounded the political calculations of a number of all major...
  • The Beijing Seminar

    Author: Elnour Hamad
    178-189
    Sponsored by the “Safer World” foundation, based in the United Kingdom, this meeting held at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies examined possibilities for the spreading of peace and...
  • Public Expenditure in Iraq in 2014

    Author: Abdel Wahab al-Qassab
    156-165
    The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and its capture of vast territories in the Fertile Crescent, has confounded the political calculations of a number of all major...
  • The Jihadis' Return: ISIS and the New Sunni Uprising

    Author: Hamzeh Almoustafa
    166-170
    Sponsored by the “Safer World” foundation, based in the United Kingdom, this meeting held at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies examined possibilities for the spreading of peace and...
  • The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity's Moral Predicament Cited 3 times

    Author: Khalid Walid Mahmoud
    171-173
    This paper presents a survey of public expenditure in Iraq in 2014. It does this as a means of assessing government performance in a number of key economic and social areas, and the ability of the...