Bassel F. Salloukh

Associate Professor & Head of Politics & International Relations Program

Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Bassel F. Salloukh is Associate Professor of Political Science and Head of the Politics and International Relations Program at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. He obtained both his MA and PhD (Honour List) in Political Science from McGill University, Canada, and his Honours BA (Summa Cum Laude) in Political Science from McMaster University, Canada. His main fields of specialization include Comparative Politics (Global South and Middle East), Political Theory (Public Philosophy, and the Philosophy of Reconciliation and Interculturalism), and International Relations (Middle East IR). His current research focuses on a critique of power-sharing arrangements in post-colonial and postwar states, and the political economy of Lebanon's postwar collapse.

His current research looks at post-conflict power-sharing arrangements, the challenge of re-assembling the political orders and societies of post-uprisings Arab states, and the geopolitics of the Middle East after the popular uprisings. He is author, co-author, and co-editor of a number of books, chapters, and journal articles, including The Politics of Sectarianism in Postwar Lebanon (Pluto Press, 2015), Beyond the Arab Spring: Authoritarianism and Democratization in the Arab World (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2012), Mapping the Political Landscape: An Introduction to Political Science, 2nd edition (Nelson Publishers, 2007), and Persistent Permeability: Regionalism, Localism, and Globalization in the Middle East (Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2004). Salloukh is a member of the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) Steering Committee, a member of the American Political Science Association (APSA) MENA Workshops Planning Committee, a Research Fellow at the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies (LCPS), and Senior Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Interuniversity Consortium for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (ICAMES), McGill University. He is a contributor to policy journals and on-line academic forums and newspapers, including Foreign Affairs, Washington Post’s the Monkey Cage, openDemocracy, and the Middle East Institute. He tweets at @bassel67.

Key Publications

Books

  • The Politics of Sectarianism in Postwar Lebanon (co-authored with Rabie Barakat, Jinan S. Al-Habbal, Lara W. Khattab, and Shoghig Mikaelian). London: Pluto Press, 2015.
  • Beyond the Arab Spring: Authoritarianism and Democratization in the Arab World (co-authored with Rex Brynen, Pete W. Moore, and Marie-Joëlle Zahar). Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2012.
  • Mapping the Political Landscape: An Introduction to Political Science 2nd edition, (co-authored with Reeta Tremblay, Andre Lecours, Francesca Scala, Csaba Nikolenyi). Toronto: Nelson Publishers, 2007.
  • Persistent Permeability: Regionalism, Localism, and Globalization in the Middle East (co-editor and contributor with Rex Brynen). London: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2004.

Journal Articles

  • “Transforming Power Sharing: From Corporate to Hybrid Consociation in Postwar Lebanon,” (co-authored with Renko A. Verheij) Middle East Law and Governance 9, 2, (2017): 147-173.
  • “Overlapping Contests and Middle East International Relations: The Return of the Weak Arab State,” PS: Political Science and Politics 50, 3, (July 2017): 660-663.
  • “The Syrian War: Spillover Effects on Lebanon,” Middle East Policy 24, 1, (Spring 2017): 62-78.
  • “Elite Strategies, Civil Society, and Sectarian Identities in Postwar Lebanon,” (with Janine Clark) International Journal of Middle East Studies 45, 4, (November 2013): 731-749.
  • “The Arab Uprisings and the Geopolitics of the Middle East,” The International Spectator 48, 2, (June 2013): 32-46.
  • “Struggles under Authoritarianism: Regimes, States, and Professional Associations in the Arab World,” (with Pete W. Moore) International Journal of Middle East Studies 39, 1, (February 2007): 53-76.
  • “The Limits of Electoral Engineering in Divided Societies: Elections in Postwar Lebanon,” Canadian Journal of Political Science 39, 3, (September 2006): 635-655.
  • “Syria and Lebanon: A Brotherhood Transformed,” Middle East Report 236, (Fall 2005): 14-21.
  • “Studying Arab Politics: The End of Ideology or the Search for Alternative Methods?” Critique No. 10, (Spring 1997): 109-125.
  • “State Strength, Permeability, and Foreign Policy Behavior: Jordan in Theoretical Perspective,” Arab Studies Quarterly 18, 2, (Spring 1996): 39-65.

Book Chapters

  • “A New Grand Bargain for the Middle East: The Search for a New Consociational and Geopolitical Order,” in Michael Wahid Hanna and Thanassis Cambanis, eds., Order from Ashes: New Foundations for Security in the Middle East (New York: The Century Foundation, 2018): 215-229.
  • “The Architecture of Sectarianization in Lebanon,” in Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel, eds., Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017): 215-234.
  • “The Sectarianization of Geopolitics in the Middle East,” in Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel, eds., Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017): 35-52.
  • “Strong Actor in a Weak State: The Geopolitics of Hezbollah,” (with Shoghig Mikaelian) in Mehran Kamrava, ed., Fragile Politics: Weak States in the Greater Middle East (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016): 119-143.
  • “The Arab World after the Popular Uprisings: A Spirit Restored?” in Kirsten Fisher and Robert Stewart, eds., Transitional Justice and the Arab Spring (London: Routledge, 2014): 17-35.
  • “Hizbullah in Lebanon,” (with Shoghig Mikaelian) in John L. Esposito and Emad Shahin, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013): 516-531.
  • “Remaking Lebanon after Syria: The Rise and Fall of Proxy Authoritarianism,” in Holger Albrecht, ed., Contentious Politics in the Middle East and North Africa (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2010): 205-228.
  • “Democracy in Lebanon: The Primacy of the Sectarian System,” in Nathan Brown and Emad El-Din Shahin, eds., The Struggle over Democracy in the Middle East (London: Routledge Press, 2009): 134-150.
  • “Demystifying Syrian Foreign Policy under Bashar,” in Fred H. Lawson, ed., Demystifying Syria (London: Saqi Books, 2009): 159-179.
  • “The Art of the Impossible: The Foreign Policy of Lebanon,” in Bahgat Korany and Ali E. Hillal Dessouki, eds., The Foreign Policies of Arab States: The Challenge of Globalization, New Revised Edition (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2009): 283-317.

Op-Eds, Policy Reports, Blogs, & Other Publications

  • “Romanticizing Paris IV,” Featured Analysis - The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS), March 2018, at: https://lcps-lebanon.org/featuredArticle.php?id=137.
  • “The Pleasures of Sectarianism,” Featured Analysis - The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS), February 2018, at: https://www.lcps-lebanon.org/featuredArticle.php?id=131.
  • “Lebanon’s Enduring Contradictions,” openDemocracy, 11 October 2017, at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/bassel-f-salloukh/lebanon-s-enduring-contradictions-0.
  • “The Heart of Lebanon’s Rural Darkness,” The New Arab, 28 June 2017, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2017/6/28/the-heart-of-lebanons-rural-darkness.
  • “The US and IS: Weaving Conspiracy Theories in Reverse,” The New Arab, 30 March 2017, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2017/3/30/the-us-and-is-weaving-conspiracy-theories-in-reverse.
  • “‘Radical Islam’: The Default Demon,” The New Arab, 17 February 2017, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2017/2/17/radical-islam-the-default-demon.
  • “Obama’s other Legacy in the Middle East,” The New Arab, 20 January 2017, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2017/1/20/obamas-other-legacy-in-the-middle-east.
  • “The Crisis of Power-sharing in Post-Syria Lebanon,” Featured Analysis - The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS), December 2016, at: http://lcps-lebanon.org/featuredArticle.php?id=97.
  • “2016: Dehumanising the Arabs... Again, The New Arab, 28 December 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/12/28/2016-dehumanising-the-arabs-again.
  • “Ziad Rahbani’s ‘A Long American Movie’: A Timely Release,” The New Arab, 17 November 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/11/17/ziad-rahbanis-a-long-american-movie-a-timely-release.
  • “How Neoliberalism defeated itself in Lebanon,” The New Arab, 27 September 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/9/30/how-neoliberalism-defeated-itself-in-lebanon.
  • “The Capitalism of our Times,” The New Arab, 24 August 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/8/24/the-capitalism-of-our-times.
  • “How to break the Middle East’s Sectarian Spiral,” Washington Post, Monkey Cage Blog, 8 August 2016, at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/08/08/how-to-break-the-middle-easts-sectarian-spiral/.
  • “Who speaks for Syrians?” The New Arab, 8 August 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/8/8/who-speaks-for-syrians.
  • “Overcoming our Underdevelopment,” The New Arab, 22 July 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/7/22/overcoming-our-underdevelopment.
  • “What America can’t do in the Arab World,” The New Arab, 26 May 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/5/26/knowing-your-limits-american-influence-in-the-arab-world.
  • “We are All Beirut Madinati,” The New Arab, 11 May 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/5/11/we-are-all-beirut-madinati.
  • “Die Ergebnisse Des Arabischen Frühlings Nach Den Volksaufständen,” in Daniel Gerlach et. al, eds., Atlas Eine Des Weltregion Arabischen Im Frühlings Umbruch (Berlin: Bundeszentrale Für Politische Bildung, April 2016): 204-206.
  • “The ‘Lebanese Origins’ of the World,” The New Arab, 27 April 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/4/27/the-lebanese-origins-of-the-world.
  • “The End of the Arab Affair,” The New Arab, 28 March 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/3/28/the-end-of-the-arab-affair.
  • “The Banana Republic of Lebanon,” The New Arab, 7 March 2016, at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/3/7/the-banana-republic-of-lebanon.
  • “Ziad Rahbani’s ‘What About Tomorrow?’ – Today,” The New Arab, 17 February 2016, at: http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english//Comment/2016/2/17/Ziad-Rahbanis-What-about-tomorrow-today.
  • “The Importance of Being Earnest about Sectarianism,” The New Arab, 3 February 2016, at: http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/2/3/the-importance-of-being-earnest-about-sectarianism.
  • “End of a Year; End of a Political Era,” The New Arab, 30 December 2015, at: http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2015/12/30/a-year-that-ends-a-political-era.
  • “How ISIS Provincialised Europe,” openDemocracy, 7 December 2015, at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/bassel-f-salloukh/how-isis-provincialised-europe.
  • “The Other Victims of IS Violence,” The New Arab, 18 November 2015, at: http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2015/11/18/the-other-victims-of-is-violence/.
  • “Lebanese Protesters United against Garbage… and Sectarianism,” Washington Post, Monkey Cage Blog, 14 September 2015, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/09/14/lebanese-protesters-united-against-garbage-and-sectarianism/.
  • “Sectarianism and the Search for New Political Orders in the Arab World,” Middle East Institute, 17 July 2015, at: http://www.mei.edu/content/map/sectarianism-and-search-new-political-orders-arab-world.
  • “The Disciplinary Violence of Sectarianism in Lebanon,” Pluto Press Blog, 14 July 2015, at: https://plutopress.wordpress.c... 
  • “Sect Supreme: The End of Realist Politics in the Middle East,” Foreign Affairs.com, 14 July 2014, at: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/... 
  • “Lebanon – Where next for Hezbollah: Resistance or Reform?” in Alexander Ramsbotham and Achim Wennmann, eds., Legitimacy and Peace Processes: From Coercion to Consent Accord Issue 25 (London: Conciliation Resources, April 2014): 100-104.
  • Al-Takamul al-‘Arabi: Sabilan li-Nahda Insaniya (Beirut: UN-ESCWA, 2014): Contributor.
  • “Education and Reconciling Our Differences.” LAU Magazine 16, 1, (Winter 2014), p. 31, at: http://www.lau.edu.lb/magazine...
  • “The Geopolitics of the Struggle for Syria,” e-International Relations, 23 September 2013, at: http://www.e-ir.info/2013/09/2...
  • Lebanon: Democracy and Governance Strategic Assessment, Management Systems International, Washington, 1 June 2011: Contributor.
  • Lebanon Conflict Assessment, Management Systems International, Washington, 31 March 2010: Contributor.
  • Expert Group Meeting on Development under Crisis Conditions, UNESCWA, Beirut, 15 September 2006: Lead author.
  • “The Arab State System after the Invasion of Iraq,” in M. Martellini and R. Redaelli, eds., Towards a Multilateral Regional Security Arrangement for the Middle East (Como: LNCV Publications, 2005): 47-62.
Posts from Bassel F. Salloukh (Show All)
What do Lebanon and Iraq’s protests tell us about the theories of sectarian conflict? This piece is taken from the SEPAD report ‘Sectarianism in the Longue Duree’ available here: https://www.sepad.org.uk/report/sectarianism-in-the-longue-duree What are the implications of recent protests in Lebanon and Iraq on the theoretical... Read More
Social Theory: Antonio Gramsci A Gramscian Toolkit for the Middle East.[1] Contribution by Bassel F. Salloukh (Associate Professor & Head, Politics & International Relations Program, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Qatar) All over the world, a number of scholars... Read More
Reports from Bassel F. Salloukh (Show All)
Sectarianized Geopolitical Contests and the Rise of Armed Sectarian Nonstate Actors The rise of armed sectarian nonstate actors (NSAs) is one of the main consequences of the grand Saudi-Iranian contest over regional dominance unleashed in the wake of the 2003 US invasion and occupation of Iraq.1 Albeit this contest predated the popular... Read More
.