Arab-Israel Normalisation of Ties

This book focuses on rapprochement and normalisation between Israel and some Arab countries within the context of global and regional geopolitics, bringing together broader perspectives on transformations resulting from this. The analysis is rooted in a historical and cultural construction of the region as an Islamic sphere viewing Israel as a perpetuation of the Western colonial project in the region. It analyses how this normalisation must not be treated as a novel phenomenon, but as a reconstruction of the past and continuity in tradition geared at regional stability, signifying a wider shift in the structure of the global international system. The first section addresses the international perspectives of the changing dynamics through the lens of US domestic politics, disengagement plans, China’s increasing understanding of the geopolitics of the Abrahamic world. It equally pays enough attention to the attendant implications of this normalisation. The second section of the book explores the reflections of regional (state and non-state) actors, such as Turkey, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, and Hezbollah, and the catalysing effects of this normalisation within and beyond the region. The book is a rich resource for scholars of regional and international relations, in particular Middle East studies. It provides useful reading material for both undergraduate and graduate students of Political Science, think tanks, diplomats, and IR experts and policy analysts, who are desirous of having rich theoretical and empirical underpinnings of unfolding realities in the larger Middle East. Bakare Najimdeen is Associate Professor at the Centre for International Peace & Stability (CIPS), Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.