Features of Statehood in the Middle East

Abstract

The Middle East entered the 2020s in a state of increased instability. Over the centuries of the region’s cultural history, the protagonists of which were all kinds of ethnic and religious groups, it would seem that mechanisms were created for ensuring conflict-free coexistence. Imperfect as these mechanisms may have been from the point of view of the liberal norms of organizing social relations, and however many times they may have failed, they were nevertheless effective enough to ensure the survival of a wide variety of communities, including those whose names have long been forgotten. And then all of this suddenly collapsed, and inter-ethnic and inter-confessional frictions turned into violence on a large scale, becoming the dominant feature of public life.