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  • Editor’s Note
  • Michael Collins Dunn

The interplay between religion and politics in the Middle East has been a major theme in recent decades, and is a recurring subtext in many of the articles in this issue.

As the Syrian tragedy continues, the roots of that struggle are deserving of study. Our first article, by Jonas Bergan Draege of the European University Institute, analyzes the dynamics of Syrian opposition movements before and since the outbreak of hostilities in 2011 in terms of Robert Putnam’s analysis of the interplay between diplomacy and domestic politics. The article draws heavily on interviews with Syrian opposition figures from both the reformist and radical camps.

Our second article deals more with the present crisis’s historical background. Dara Conduit of Monash University argues that the 1982 massacre in Hama has played an oversized role in shaping outside perceptions of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. She analyzes this process in terms of Guy Debord’s theory of the role of “spectacle,” arguing the horrific reports of Hama have associated the Syrian Brotherhood with violence in Western analyses and portrayals of the group.

Our third article turns to Iran and the rhetoric of former Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Navid Fozi, of Middle East Technical University and recently of the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, notes that in 2009 Ahmadinejad began evoking Iran’s pre-Islamic past in addition to the Shi‘i religious narrative that had dominated Iranian self-identity since the 1979 Revolution. Fozi labels the resulting synthesis of pre-Islamic grandeur and Shi‘i religious identity “neo-Iranian nationalism.”

Our next two articles deal with Israel and with various aspects of its formative years. Avi Shilon, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Taub Center for Israel Studies of New York University an author of the 2012 Menachem Begin: A Life, examines the role of Judaism in Begin’s political ideology from his days in the pre-State Jewish underground through his years as prime minister. Shilon finds that a traditionalist approach to Judaism — which differed both from his main influence, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, as well and his rival David Ben-Gurion — informed Begin’s political ideology throughout his career.

Moshe Sharett, Israel’s first foreign minister after independence and its second prime minister (1954–55), may seem somewhat forgotten today, having been overshadowed by his predecessor and successor as premier, Ben-Gurion. Neil Caplan — of Concordia University and Vanier College, both in Montreal, and co-editor of a forthcoming English translation of Sharett’s extensive diaries — examines the question of Sharett’s dismissal as foreign minister in 1956, after Ben-Gurion’s return to the premiership in 1955.

In addition to our usual five research articles, this issue also includes a Policy Essay by Justin Gengler and Laurent A. Lambert, “Renegotiating the Ruling Bargain: Selling Fiscal Reform in the GCC,” addressing the new realities of the Gulf states in an age of low oil prices and declining reserves.

In addition you will find the usual full range of book reviews and our quarterly Chronology. Between issues I would remind you that there is a wealth of content on the Middle East Institute’s website at www.mei.edu, as well as my daily MEI Editor’s Blog accessible through the website or directly at http://mideasti.blogspot.com. [End Page 187]

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