Page 20 - INSS | 2019-2020

2 The Regional System:
Struggling for the Shape of the Middle East

Sarah Feuer, Itai Brun, Gallia Lindenstrauss, Oded Eran, Yoram Schweitzer, Ofir Winter, Yoel Guzansky, Remi Daniel ,
Eldad Shavit, and Ari Heistein

REUTERS / Zohra Bensemra Recommendations

Snapshot Repair relations with Jordan • Strengthen
cooperation with the pragmatic Sunni states,
The radical Shiite axis remains united and while acknowledging the limitations therein
determined • Pragmatic Sunni states fail to (stemming primarily from popular resentment
create stable alliances • Regional upheaval of Israel)
continues, and regimes face serious challenges
stemming from core socio-economic problems

Introduction

Nine years after the dramatic events of late 2010 and early 2011 (the so-called Arab Spring), the regional upheaval
persists and the Middle East continues to be characterized by instability, uncertainty, and volatility. There is broad
consensus among researchers and observers that the region is mired in a deep crisis, while undergoing processes
with crucial long term implications and engaged in a turbulent contest over its character.

This struggle is unfolding in two realms: first, between four main camps competing over ideas, power, influence, and
survival to define the contours of the regional order; and second, between rulers and publics within the individual
states, most of which continue to suffer from basic social and economic problems that have only worsened since
the “Spring.”

18 STRATEGIC SURVEY FOR ISRAEL