Ferran Izquierdo Brichs – författare

Communist Parties in the Middle East: 100 Years of History

One hundred years since the Russian Revolution, Communist parties have undergone great changes, in an evolution that has affected the entire Left and the social movements. Given that the impact of Communist parties and their evolution in the Middle East is a topic that has not been widely researched, Communist parties in the Middle East. 100 years of history aims to cover a century in the lives of these parties, from the moment the Communist ideology first reached the region in the early 20th century (brought by activists from minority groups) and the creation of the first parties and trades unions after the 1917 revolution, right up to the upheaval caused by the dissolution of the USSR and, more recently, the Arab Spring. The book has been designed to offer a unique, updated and comprehensive study of Communist parties in the Middle East, based on both a theoretical framework of analysis and substantial empirical research and archive documentation.

Several issues are examined in this work. When the Russian Revolution took place, the Middle Eastern region as a whole was under colonial control. This meant taking decisions related to the relationship between the class struggle and the national struggle. The composition of the communist parties in the Middle East is also analysed as is their role as the vanguard –understood in the broad sense of the word– in relation to the objectives of liberation, emancipation, revolution and system change or reform, and their connection to mass or popular movements. Furthermore, the volume looks back at the dependency or autonomy of communist parties during the Cold War and the tensions that this generated in them, as well as the search for individual constructions of communism that took into account cultural characteristics and the local context of the struggle. In this respect, one of the recurring themes in the work is the relationship between communist activism and the sectors that mobilized in the name of nationalism or political Islam. Finally, the chapters trace the history of the parties, including –for the first time in the literature– the post-Cold War period and continuing to the current situation, in which communist parties occupy a residual position in the political field, sharing space with other small groups from the real Left, new programmes adapted to neoliberal advancement in the region and the new mobilizations symbolized by the uprisings of 2010-2011.

The first section of the book presents the evolution of the CPs in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Israel, Egypt, South Yemen, Sudan, Algeria and Morocco. The second section explores some cross-cutting issues that have affected relations between the communist parties and other political sectors: political Islam and the New Left. Through the testimony of some leading figures, it presents the arguments around the question of gender in the Arab world and in leftist circles as well as an example of the evolution of a female leftist activist, some contradictions and the prominent debates from the most convulsive years to the present.

Communist Parties in the Middle East: 100 Years of History

One hundred years since the Russian Revolution, Communist parties have undergone great changes, in an evolution that has affected the entire Left and the social movements. Given that the impact of Communist parties and their evolution in the Middle East is a topic that has not been widely researched, Communist parties in the Middle East. 100 years of history aims to cover a century in the lives of these parties, from the moment the Communist ideology first reached the region in the early 20th century (brought by activists from minority groups) and the creation of the first parties and trades unions after the 1917 revolution, right up to the upheaval caused by the dissolution of the USSR and, more recently, the Arab Spring. The book has been designed to offer a unique, updated and comprehensive study of Communist parties in the Middle East, based on both a theoretical framework of analysis and substantial empirical research and archive documentation.

Several issues are examined in this work. When the Russian Revolution took place, the Middle Eastern region as a whole was under colonial control. This meant taking decisions related to the relationship between the class struggle and the national struggle. The composition of the communist parties in the Middle East is also analysed as is their role as the vanguard –understood in the broad sense of the word– in relation to the objectives of liberation, emancipation, revolution and system change or reform, and their connection to mass or popular movements. Furthermore, the volume looks back at the dependency or autonomy of communist parties during the Cold War and the tensions that this generated in them, as well as the search for individual constructions of communism that took into account cultural characteristics and the local context of the struggle. In this respect, one of the recurring themes in the work is the relationship between communist activism and the sectors that mobilized in the name of nationalism or political Islam. Finally, the chapters trace the history of the parties, including –for the first time in the literature– the post-Cold War period and continuing to the current situation, in which communist parties occupy a residual position in the political field, sharing space with other small groups from the real Left, new programmes adapted to neoliberal advancement in the region and the new mobilizations symbolized by the uprisings of 2010-2011.

The first section of the book presents the evolution of the CPs in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Israel, Egypt, South Yemen, Sudan, Algeria and Morocco. The second section explores some cross-cutting issues that have affected relations between the communist parties and other political sectors: political Islam and the New Left. Through the testimony of some leading figures, it presents the arguments around the question of gender in the Arab world and in leftist circles as well as an example of the evolution of a female leftist activist, some contradictions and the prominent debates from the most convulsive years to the present.

One of the implications of Orientalism is that the Arab world, as a homogenous entity, is often analysed as an anomaly within the international system. This book argues that, despite their differences, societies across the globe ultimately construct their own history according to very similar dynamics and tensions.

The methodological approach of this book, using different countries within the Arab world as models, offers the reader an analysis of relations between the elites and their opposition in a variety of settings. A definition of the political structure of each country is drawn from this analysis before potential future scenarios, as according to country specific experts, are proposed. This model provides a useful contribution to students and scholars of political science and international relations.

Through providing a comparative study of the political regimes currently operating in the Arab world; their elites, civil society, power resources and political resistance, this book illustrates that despite the image of homogeneity sometimes portrayed by the Arab world, it is the multiplicity of models and heterogeneity of regimes that constitute reality.

One of the implications of Orientalism is that the Arab world, as a homogenous entity, is often analysed as an anomaly within the international system. This book argues that, despite their differences, societies across the globe ultimately construct their own history according to very similar dynamics and tensions.

The methodological approach of this book, using different countries within the Arab world as models, offers the reader an analysis of relations between the elites and their opposition in a variety of settings. A definition of the political structure of each country is drawn from this analysis before potential future scenarios, as according to country specific experts, are proposed. This model provides a useful contribution to students and scholars of political science and international relations.

Through providing a comparative study of the political regimes currently operating in the Arab world; their elites, civil society, power resources and political resistance, this book illustrates that despite the image of homogeneity sometimes portrayed by the Arab world, it is the multiplicity of models and heterogeneity of regimes that constitute reality.

This book explores the increasing political and social prominence of Islamist groups across the Middle East in recent years. The aftermath of the 2011 uprisings saw some groups access or even control political institutions through success at the ballot box, while there has also been a marked resurgence of armed Islamist groups that have had profound effects at both the national and regional level. This volume helps us to understand the nature and development of organised political Islam over recent decades in several key Arab and Mediterranean countries: Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, and Turkey. The book identifies the central social and political Islamist actors, traces their ideological differences and similarities, and analyses power relations both within and between these organizations in the context of political instability and uncertainty. It will be of interest to students and scholars across a broad range ofdisciplines including political science, sociology, and international relations. 

This book is aimed both at researchers and advanced students of Central Asia, the space of the former USSR, and the foreign policy of Russia and China. The authors adopt a sociological approach in understanding how power structures emerged in the wake of the Soviet collapse. The independencies in Central Asia did not happen as a consequence of a nationalist struggle, but because the USSR imploded. Thus, instead of the elites being replaced, the same Soviet elites who had competed for power in the previous system continued to do so in the new one, which they had to build, adapting themselves and the system to their needs. Additionally, unlike in the immense majority of the independent states that emerged from decolonization, the social movements and capacity to mobilize the people were very weak in the new Central Asian states. For this reason, the configuration of the new systems was the product of a competition for power between a very small number of elites who did not have to answer to the people and their demands. Thus, the new power regimes acquired a strong neopatrimonial component. Analyzing the structure of societies, economies and polities of post-socialist states, this book will be of great interest to scholars of Central Asia, to sociologists, and to scholars of China''s rise.