This volume introduces the theorisation of indirect governance to the scholarship on the Middle East and North Africa. It argues that MENA governance – maintaining order, enforcing laws, revenue collection, the management of religion, and military engagements – necessitates the delegation of authority to third parties. A central theme is the tension between rulers and their intermediaries: as third-party actors grow more capable and entrenched, they accumulate influence that can gradually escape the grasp of those who empowered them. Drawing on original data from Iranian and Syrian archives, fieldwork in Tunisia, Iran, Israel/Palestine, and Saudi Arabia, and original research in Jordan and Egypt, the volume explores why certain governance configurations endure while others falter. In doing so, it offers a novel perspective on the rise of authoritarianism, tribalism, the politics of religion, civil-military relations, and political violence in the MENA region.
