Introduction: great power competition and the Middle East

The peoples and governments of the Middle East and North Africa are no strangers to external interference. With a protracted history of colonialism and imperialism at the hands of European powers, long-standing manifestations of Cold War competition between the Soviet Union and the USA in the 20th century, and stark examples of US regional predominance in the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, discussions of great power competition neglect this region at their peril. After only a little over 30 years since the end of the Cold War, it is now a commonly accepted notion that the world is once again gripped by profound competition between the USA and its two main rivals, Russia and China. The Middle East is one of the regions most affected by the dynamics of great power competition. The complexities of how great power competition manifests in the Middle East have inspired the production of this volume. This introduction outlines the book’s chapters, which cover the most pressing contemporary events, issues, and trends in Middle Eastern politics, comprehensively analysing four core questions: (1) How does global power competition manifest itself in the region? (2) How does it impact regional political, economic, and societal dynamics? (3) How do regional actors and issues influence the trajectory and dynamics of global power competition between the USA, Russia, and China in the 21st century? (4) How have regional states instrumentalised great power competition to maximise the realisation of their interests?