MACMILLAN Non-State Armed Actors in the Middle East: Geopolitics, Ideology, and Strategy

This volume investigates the nature and changing roles of the non-state armed groups in the Middle East with a special focus on Kurdish, Shia and Islamic State groups. To understand the nature of transformation in the Middle Eastern geopolitical space, it provides new empirical and analytical insights into the impact of three prominent actors, namely ISIS, YPG and Shia Militias. With its distinctive detailed and multi-faceted analyses, it offers new findings on the changing contours of sovereignty, geopolitics and ideology, particularly after the Arab Uprisings. Overall this volume contributes to the study of violent geopolitics, critical security studies and international relations particularly by exploring the ideologies and strategies of the new non-state armed actors. Review “Non-state armed actors have shattered state territorial orders across the Middle East. This book examines the beliefs and strategies of these new territorial brokers and how they are re-making geopolitics, and bio-politics, from below across the region. It is compelling reading.” (Gerard Toal, Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech, USA and author of Near Abroad: Putin, the West and the Contest for Ukraine and the Caucasus) “Murat Yeşiltaş and Tuncay Kardaş have produced an excellent analysis of the rise of non-state actors. Very few works have the same level of solid scholarship and deep, comparative insights into the phenomenon.” (Omar Ashour, Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter, UK and author of The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements) “In tracing out both the ideological origins and political implications of their seemingly inexorable capacity to garner power following the so-called Arab Spring, this book makes an invaluable contribution to contemporary debates on sovereignty, social order and geo-politics. Up-to-date, well-written and relevant, it will be a key resource for anyone wishing to navigate their way through the complexities and dynamics of the contemporary Middle East.” (Tim Jacoby, Professor, University of Manchester, UK) From the Back Cover This volume investigates the nature and changing roles of the non-state armed groups in the Middle East with a special focus on Kurdish, Shia and Islamic State groups. To understand the nature of transformation in the Middle Eastern geopolitical space, it provides new empirical and analytical insights into the impact of three prominent actors, namely ISIS, YPG and Shia Militias. With its distinctive detailed and multi-faceted analyses, it offers new findings on the changing contours of sovereignty, geopolitics and ideology, particularly after the Arab Uprisings. Overall this volume contributes to the study of violent geopolitics, critical security studies and international relations particularly by exploring the ideologies and strategies of the new non-state armed actors. About the Author Murat Yeşiltaş is Associate Professor in the Middle East Institute of Sakarya University, Turkey. Tuncay Kardaş is Associate Professor in the Middle East Institute of Sakarya University, Turkey.