This book explores the conditions of state survival in the Middle East. Capturing the dilemmas that 'late-forming states' face as they cope with domestic and international pressure, it provides a model for study of the state in the Arab world and a theory to explain its survival.

Adham Saouli is Lecturer of International Relations and Middle East Politics at the University of St. Andrews. His main research interests are in state formation and behaviour in the Middle East.

Prologue 1. States and Social Fields 2. Constructing the Middle East: International Anarchy, Indigenous Responses 3. The Late-forming State: Ontology, Dilemmas and Conditions of Survival 4. Saudi Arabia: The Survival of a Homogeneous State 5. Iraq: The Survival of a Divided State. Conclusion: Why do States Survive in the Middle East?