Houses built on sand : : violence, sectarianism and revolution in the Middle East / / Simon Mabon.

• Superior document: Identities and geopolitics in the Middle East
• VerfasserIn: Mabon, Simon,
• Place / Publishing House: Manchester, UK : : Manchester University Press,, 2020.; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Identities and geopolitics in the Middle East.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xi, 254 pages) :; digital file(s)

The events of the Arab Uprisings posed an existential challenge to sovereign power across the Middle East. Whilst some regimes were able to withstand these challenges through recourse to coercive strategies, others were toppled. This book questions why some regimes fell whilst others were able to survive. It argues that this was a direct consequence of state building processes and the cultivation of particular relationships between rulers and ruled. One of the consequences of such efforts is the transformation of regional politics along increasingly 'sectarianized' lines to devastating effect. This book offers a timely and unique approach to linking the events of the Arab Uprisings and on-going conflict across the region through exploring the marginalization and manipulation of identities across the Middle East.

Table of Contents

Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. The politics of sovereignty and space -- 2. Letters and declarations -- 3. Ink on paper -- 4. The dawla and the umma -- 5. Building Beirut, transforming Jerusalem and breaking Basra -- 6. The people want the fall of the regime -- 7. The regime fights back -- 8. Houses built on sand -- Conclusion: the end of the dream -- Selected bibliography -- Index.