HIERARCHY WITHOUT HEGEMONY: RETHINKING REGIONAL ORDER FORMATION IN THE POST-2011 MIDDLE EAST

Abstract

Theories of regional order presume either a settled hegemon or a working balance of power. The post-2011 Middle East displays neither, and is usually characterized by what it lacks. This article proposes contested hierarchy: a configuration in which several actors claim the right to organize a region on incompatible grounds, none converts material primacy into recognized authority because legitimation is transnational rather than governmental, and subordinate states are fragmented into factions that contract with external patrons independently. These conditions reproduce one another, so contested hierarchy is an equilibrium rather than a transition. The argument is illustrated through Syria, Yemen and the Gulf crisis.