Political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has contributed to higher oil prices and added instability to energy markets. Supply disruptions and fears about the possible spread of unrest to major exporters have pushed prices higher. Even if the crisis abates, some risk premium may persist to the degree that market participants fear such an event could occur again. Contents of this report: (1) Introduction; (2) Short-Term Pricing Pressures: Unrest Contributes to Higher Oil Prices; Impacts on the U.S. Oil Market; U.S. Natural Gas More Insulated from MENA Turmoil; (3) Long-Term Considerations: Risks May Persist; (4) Policy Considerations; Strategic Petroleum Reserve; Other Policy Options. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

Taking a comparative approach, this book considers the ways in which political regimes have changed since the Arab Spring. It addresses a series of questions about political change in the context of the revolutions, upheavals and protests that have taken place in North Africa and the Arab Middle East since December 2010, and looks at the various processes have been underway in the region: democratisation (Tunisia), failed democratic transitions (Egypt, Libya and Yemen), political liberalisation (Morocco) and increased authoritarianism (Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria). In other countries, in contrast to these changes, the authoritarian regimes remain intact (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Arab United Emirates.

The aim of Protests and Generations is to problematize the relations between generations and protests in the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean. Most of the work on recent protests insists on the newness of their manifestation but leave unexplored the various links that exist between them and what preceded them. Mark Muhannad Ayyash and Ratiba Hadj-Moussa (Eds.) argue that their articulation relies at once on historical ties and their rejection. It is precisely this tension that the chapters of the book address in specifically documenting several case studies that highlight the generating processes by which generations and protests are connected. What the production and use of generation brings to scholarly understanding of the protests and the ability to articulate them is one of the major questions this collection addresses. Contributors are: Mark Muhannad Ayyash, Lorenzo Cini, Éric Gobe, Ratiba Hadj-Moussa, Andrea Hajek, Chaymaa Hassabo, Gal Levy, Ilana Kaufman, Sunaina Maira, Mohammad Massala, Matthieu Rey, Gökbörü Sarp Tanyildiz, and Stephen Luis Vilaseca. *Protests and Generations is now available in paperback for individual customers.

Explores the relation between histories of violence and their contemporary commemoration.

This comprehensive volume investigates the ongoing protests on three levels of analysis (local, national, regional) and through seven case studies (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia).

Shocks and Rivalries in the Middle East and North Africa is the first book to examine issue-driven antagonisms within groups of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) states and their impact on relations within the region. The volume also considers how shock events, such as internal revolts and regional wars, can alter interstate tensions and the trajectory of conflict. MENA has experienced more internal rivalries than any other region, making a detailed analysis vital to understanding the region’s complex political, cultural, and economic history. The state groupings studied in this volume include Israel and Iran; Iran and Saudi Arabia; Iran and Turkey; Iran, Iraq, and Syria; Egypt and Saudi Arabia; and Algeria and Morocco. Essays are theoretically driven, breaking the MENA region down into a collection of systems that exemplify how state and nonstate actors interact around certain issues. Through this approach, contributors shed rare light on the origins, persistence, escalation, and resolution of MENA rivalries and trace significant patterns of regional change. Shocks and Rivalries in the Middle East and North Africa makes a major contribution to scholarship on MENA antagonisms. It not only addresses an understudied phenomenon in the international relations of the MENA region, it also expands our knowledge of rivalry dynamics in global politics.