The Erosion of the Arab State in Global and Regional Contexts

Authors

  • Author

  • May Darwich University of Birmingham, UK

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31430/MXAJ6765

Keywords:

International Relations, Non-state Actors, Foreign Policy, Sovereignty, State Erosion

Abstract

The 2011 Arab uprisings sparked hopes for positive change in the regional politics of the Middle East. The uprisings not only challenged the authority of states at the domestic level but seemed poised to disrupt regional geopolitics and alter the position of the Middle East in the international system. With the outbreak of civil wars in Syria, Libya, and Sudan, military interventions in Bahrain and Yemen, and the unprecedented proliferation of armed non- state actors in the region, the uprisings seem to drive important changes in the nature of the state and its regional and international role. Despite its artificial inception and its puzzling survival throughout the 20 th century, the Arab State faces challenges in the post- 2011 era and its vulnerabilities have been exposed. While the uprisings may have weakened Arab states, changes at regional and international levels created permissive conditions to challenge the regional state system. Hamas's 7 October 2023 operation and Israel's ensuing wars in the region have further exacerbated state erosion and reinvigorated post- 2011 regional dynamics. This paper examines how structural international and regional conditions have reshaped statehood and agency in the region post- 2011. It also explores how the responses of Arab states to international conditions and the regional reverberations of the uprisings have further generated disintegrative effects for the Arab state.

Author Biography

  • May Darwich, University of Birmingham, UK
    Associate Professor of International Relations of the Middle East, University of Birmingham, UK.

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Published

2026-01-01

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Received: September 29, 2025 Revised: November 29, 2025 Accepted: December 10, 2025

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Vol. 14 No. 078 (2026): Issue 078

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Studies

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