Evolution of Regional Power Structure in the Middle East

On Saturday, May 6, 2023, the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies and the Master of International Studies program, in cooperation with the Department of Political Science / Faculty of Law and Public Administration, organized a public lecture entitled "The Evolution of the Regional Power Structure in the Middle East", presented by Dr. Nuri Yesilurt, Professor of International Relations at the University of Ankara, the lecture was moderated by the Professor of  Political science and International relations at Birzeit University Dr. Abed Al Rahman Haj Ibrahim.

Dr. Nuri discussed the Evolution of the regional power structure in the Middle East from the end of World War II in 1945 to today; Considering that regional politics is not stable, and that the region witnesses permanent attempts to shape it in almost every decade. In the forties of the twentieth century, the system of Arab states appeared and the attempt to unite the Arab states, but the emergence of the occupying state (Israel) in the Arab region reflected the Western desire to control the Arab world. In the fifties, the Free Officers Revolution broke out in Egypt in 1952, and Egypt tried to lead the Arab region and confront foreign interference. Simultaneously, regional and Western attempts emerged to create anti-Soviet alliances and Arab nationalism.

In the fifties, the Free Officers Revolution broke out in Egypt in 1952, and Egypt tried to lead the Arab region and confront foreign interference. Simultaneously, regional and Western attempts emerged to create anti-Soviet alliances and Arab nationalism. The year 1956 was an important turning point in the region in terms of the rise of Egyptian President Jamal Abdel Nasser in the Arab world and repelling the tripartite aggression against Egypt during the Suez crisis. On the other hand, the US and Soviet intervention in the Arab region increased during the Cold War.

In the sixties, the 1967 war led to the expansion of Israel in the region and the failure to achieve Arab unity. Egypt concluded with Israel the Camp David Accords in 1978, which led to the isolation of Egypt from the Arab world and the rise of Iraq as an Arab power to fill the void in conjunction with the success of the Iranian revolution, the fall of the Shah in 1979, and the rise of Islamic ideology after Khomeini assumed the leadership of Iran. In the 1990s, Iraq tried to lead the region by invading Kuwait in 1990, but other Arab powers joined the United States coalition to expel Iraq from Kuwait and reject its regional hegemony.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, a new phase appeared in the region through the emergence of resistance forces following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, which led Iran to penetrate the Arab region due to the regional vacuum resulting from the fall of Baghdad. With the uprisings of 2011, there was competition in the region between three axes: the Iranian, Turkish and Saudi axis. Dr. Yesilurt noted that Türkiye's axis did not win the regional competition against the status quo forces.