Simon Paul Mabon

Aiding Revolution? Wikileaks, communication and the ‘Arab Spring’ in Egypt

Abstract This article explores the role of external actors in facilitating the uprisings in Egypt that have become known as the Arab Spring. It analyses several of the diplomatic cables released by the Wikileaks organisation that possess an Egypt focus. The article suggests that while the cables did not make surprising revelations to Egyptians, the release of this information offered a source of external legitimacy for the protesters by detailing a history of oppression and human rights abuses; conversely, the cables delegitimised the Mubarak regime. The data were then spread via different channels of communication to aid the protest movements both internally and externally. The article concludes by suggesting that while this information was incredibly important, as were the channels of communication used to facilitate events and spread the information, one must be careful not to diminish the importance of agency.

Sovereign implications of securitisation work

This is a reply to:Gledhill, J. 2018. “Securitization, mafias and violence in Brazil and Mexico.” Global Discourse 8 (1): 139–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2017.1406679.

Existential threats and regulating life: securitization in the contemporary Middle East

This article applies the concept of securitization to the Middle East with a focus upon the securitization of the Shi’a other. Such processes occur across time and space and are not restricted to state borders, escaping the Westphalian straitjacket. As a consequence, one must consider the construction of space and political structures across the region in order to understand the traction that such moves can find. It appears then, that in seeking to maintain short-term survival, regimes have sacrificed long-term stability, but the impacts of such moves transcend the typically linear constructed audiences within securitization moves. A key contribution of this article is to consider the extent to which audiences within the Middle East, both intended and unintended, transcend the linear audiences found within conventional processes of securitization. The article uses two case studies as a means of exploring the extent to which securitization can be applied to the Middle East. Such an approach helps us to identify the logics that are involved within the process of securitization, with consideration of the idea that we can populate a broad framework about the universal application of securitization to context specific cases.

Sovereignty, bare life and the Arab Uprisings

Abstract Five years after people took to the streets in protest at political organisation across the Middle East, the consequences of these actions remain. As the protests gained traction, states began to fragment and regimes sought to retain power, whatever the cost. While a great deal of focus has been upon what happened, very little attention has been paid to the role of agency within the context of the fragmenting sovereignty and political change. This article contributes to these debates by applying the work of Giorgio Agamben to the post-Arab Uprisings Middle East, to understand the relationship between rulers and ruled along with the fragmentation of the sovereign state. The article argues for the need to bring agency back into conceptual debates about sovereignty within the Middle East. It concludes by presenting a framework that offers an approach building upon Agamben’s bare life.

Muting the trumpets of sabotage: Saudi Arabia, the US and the quest to securitize Iran

Abstract In recent years, the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has become increasingly influential in shaping the nature of Middle Eastern politics, with the two exerting influence across the region in an attempt to increase their own power and to reduce that of the other. Amidst an increasingly fractious region, this article explores Saudi Arabia’s attempts to securitize Iran to actors in the US. The signing of the nuclear agreement and the failure of the US to move beyond normal politics signal the failure of Riyadh’s efforts to securitize Iran. Understanding the nature of relationships in the region, particularly between Riyadh and Tehran and between Riyadh and Washington, helps to understand the changing nature of regional politics and ultimately, the emergence of a more pro-active Saudi foreign policy.

Contested spaces and sectarian narratives in post:uprising Bahrain

In early February 2011, people took to the streets of Manama, Bahrain, protesting against the political system of the Al Khalifa monarchy. Although initially occurring along non-sectarian lines, the protests were quickly framed as such and, as a consequence, the nature of the protests changed. This article engages with this process of sectarianism, exploring how space became contested and how such sites took on political – and sectarian – meanings. In the article, we argue that by framing the protests in such a way, the Al Khalifa regime was able to create a master narrative that impacted upon all facets of Bahraini society, at home and abroad.

The Apocalyptic and the Sectarian: Identity, ‘Bare Life’ and the Rise of Da’ish

Within the context of upstream operations, one must engage with events within particular boundaries of space and time. Understanding processes within these areas can also result in awareness of the emergence of particular groups and ideas. The emergence of Da’ish in 2014, was the result of the fragmentation of Iraq and the increasingly sectarian attempts to fill the post-Saddam vacuum. Mabon considers political organisation in Iraq across the 20th century, focussing upon the rise and fall of the sovereign state, and suggests that by considering events through the lens of sovereignty, we are better equipped to understand events. Mabon analyses the Iraqi state, before turning to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, considering the process of deba’athification and the establishment of Shi’a government in Baghdad, mass unemployment, and sectarian violence. The penetration of the Iraqi state by external actors, namely Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose geopolitical agendas—framed as support for sectarian kin—fed into the continued fragmentation of the state. From this, it is possible to see how Sunni communities became marginalised and securitised, resulting in what Giorgio Agamben (Homo sacer: Sovereign power and bare life. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1995) has termed ‘bare life’. It is these conditions that gave rise to the emergence of Da’ish.

Fundamentalism: examining the role of public reason in ‘non-liberal’ approaches to ‘unreasonable’ doctrines

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine ways in which critics of liberalism come to adopt, without acknowledgement, ‘liberal’ forms of public reason in responding to homogenising tendencies of fundamentalist doctrines. We focus on the divergent approaches of John Gray and Slavoj Žižek, arguing that the former upholds a comprehensive form of liberalism, while the latter upholds a political form popular among policy makers who endorse a ‘fundamentalism’/‘extremism’ dichotomy. We argue that the latter fails to recognise that ‘philosophical’ unreasonableness often translates into political unreasonableness. Examining these non-liberal approaches not only indicates the apparent value of reason as reciprocity, it also supports a long-held charge against liberalism: that it is not able to uphold its promise of accommodating radical forms of diversity.

The Circle of Bare Life: Hizballah, Muqawamah and Rejecting ‘Being Thus’

ABSTRACT This article explores the emergence of Hizballah, the Party of God, and the development of its ideas of resistance at a local and regional level. It begins by considering the emergence of Hizballah and the Lebanese context through the lens of Giorgio Agamben’s work on bare life. It suggests that these conditions existed in Lebanon—amidst the Shi’a community—and asks how people came together to reject the condition of ‘being thus’. Conventional approaches suggest that this occurred through Hizballah’s ideas of resistance, yet this has largely been under-conceptualized. To do this, it looks at the role of the Karbala Narrative in helping the group draw support from Shi’a Muslims in Lebanon, while also locating itself at the vanguard of resistance in the Middle East. With the emergence of Da’ish in the summer of 2014, this position was challenged. By reflecting on speeches from prominent Hizballah figures, the severity of the threat can be seen, justifying the Party of God’s involvement in Syria. It concludes by arguing that the need to maintain its geopolitical influence has required military action in Syria, which has ultimately led to the creation of bare life.

The noosphere and real politik: a reply to Frangonikolopoulos and Proedrou

This is a reply to:Frangonikolopoulos, Christos A. and Filippos Proedrou. 2014. “Reinforcing global legitimacy and efficiency: the case fοr strategic discursive public diplomacy.” Global Discourse. 4 (1): 49–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2014.880243.