The Middle East state system, which was largely an artificial construct of the post–World War I international order, has faced enormous challenges since Arab uprisings erupted in December 2010. The collection of essays in this volume, based on a seminar held by The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies in the 2012–13 academic year, examines the state of the Middle East in the aftermath of the uprisings and seeks to explain how the region has slipped sideways since 2010 and what it might mean for the existing framework of states. How are individual states coping with these challenges? Are they succeeding? If not, what are the potential consequences for the cohesion of the state, society, and region? What kinds of broad patterns are emerging? How are these transformations manifesting themselves? The essays presented in this volume address these issues and more, and attempt to analyze the meaning of the momentous change
