Edited by Luigi Narbone, Director of the Middle East Directions Programme
A long cycle of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa started with the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and continued with the civil wars which followed the 2011 Arab uprisings. Whether we are currently in the final phase of a prolonged conflict cycle or at the beginning of a new, larger and more dramatic war is difficult to say.
What we know for a fact is that the toll in terms of deaths, human suffering and economic destruction in war-torn MENA countries is enormous and keeps rising. The repercussions of MENA conflicts in terms of global security, regional instability, refugee and migrant flows, radicalisation and jihadism, losses in economic growth and development and disruptions in oil production are too important to neglect. Stabilisation and reconstruction remain a priority for all the actors – local, regional and international – which over time have been involved in these conflicts.
This eBook, which includes several important contributions presented at the MED Directions’ 2018 conference on Exiting war economy dynamics: What future for stabilisation and reconstruction in the MENA?, is addressed to an audience of both academics and policy-makers.
Based on the findings and recommendations from each chapter, the eBook explores alternative approaches to reconstruction given the shortcomings of contemporary approaches to post-conflict reconstruction, and offers useful insights and recommendations to the policy makers.
The eBook is available for Download.