Human Security in the Middle East and North Africa

"This book provides a comprehensive analysis of security issues in the Middle East and North Africa. It is original in two ways. First, it combines two often-opposed areas of security studies: traditional threats and non-traditional threats. It emphasizes the significance of human security in daily life and provides a better understanding of security in a region with organizational logics that extend beyond state borders, despite being less visible to observers such as journalists and policymakers. Second, the book is not a collection of monographs by country but addresses regional aspects, concentrating on transnational issues such as poverty and political Islam. The author employs case studies such as GERD and sectarianization in Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia to highlight the complexities of security threats and their interconnections. This approach is unique among scholars, as few have made this ambitious choice to examine differences and similarities beyond state borders." --William Gueraiche, Director of the International Relations Master at the University of Wollongong, Dubai (UOWD). The book examines human security threats in the MENA region, including food, water, energy, climate, health, sectarian conflict, terrorism, and poverty. It highlights the relationship between human security threats and conventional or military security threats. The author reveals how MENA nations have failed to respond to these threats and develop a human security formula and regional security architecture that included both human and conventional security threats. The book concludes that the future of the region depends on its governments' ability to address human security threats. Alaa Al-Din Arafat is an independent scholar and author. He was a former Associate Researcher at London University, UK, and a Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the FUE, Egypt. He also was an Associate Researcher at CEDEJ, Egypt. He is the author of Regional and International Powers in the Gulf Security and The Mubarak Leadership and Future in Democracy in Egypt, as well as Egypt in Crisis and The Rise of Islamism in Egypt, all published by Palgrave Macmillan.