The Struggle for the State in Jordan: The Social Origins of Alliances in the Middle East

(Hardback)

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Why do the states of the Arab world seem so unstable Why do alliances between them and with outside powers change Jamie Allinson argues that the answer lies in the expansion of global capitalism in the Middle East. Drawing out the unexpected way in which Jordan's Bedouin tribes became allied to the British Empire in the twentieth century, and the legacy of this for the international politics of the Middle East, he challenges the existing views of the region. Using the example of Jordan, this book traces the social bases of the struggles that produced the country's foreign relations in the latter half of the twentieth century to the reforms carried out under the Ottoman Empire and the processes of land settlement and state formation experienced under the British Mandate. By examining the attempts of Jordan to create foreign alliances during a time of upheaval and instability in the region, Allinson offers wider conclusions concerning the nature of the interaction between state and society in the wider Middle East.

Reviews

'This book provides unique insight, informed by theories of uneven and combined development, into state formation and foreign policy in the Arab world and specifically the case of Jordan. It is a model of how a case study can elucidate the power of theory and theory can enable a rich empirical understanding.' - Professor Raymond Hinnebusch, University of St Andrews, 'Jamie Allinson's The Struggle for the State in Jordan marks an important intervention both in critical International Relations theory and Middle East studies. Blending a theoretically sophisticated reconstruction of the concept of uneven and combined development with empirically rich history of colonial and post-colonial Jordan, Allinson provides a new take on Middle East state formation and geo-politics that moves decisively beyond current debates.' - Dr Kamran Matin, Lecturer, Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex

Author Bio

Jamie Allinson is Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster. He holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from The University of Edinburgh.