This chapter examines Tunisia’s decentralization process from the start of the constitutional drafting process in 2011 to adoption of the Local Authorities Code in 2018. Tunisia’s decentralization process reveals the existence of historical territorial cleavages that are often obscured by the usual ideological cleavages highlighted in the literature, particularly the secularist–Islamist binary. The chapter begins with a brief historical overview of regional inequalities, which played a prominent role in the 2011 uprising and led to the adoption of decentralization in the new Constitution. The chapter analyzes how two key factors – institutional venue and party system coherence – shape the incentives and capacities of political and bureaucratic officials to shape decentralization. It draws on the literature on decentralization in other transitioning and developing countries and analyzes the role of political parties in a post-authoritarian transitional context, the balance of power between political and administrative actors, and how choices regarding process design and institutional venue at the outset of decentralization reforms shape subsequent outcomes. The chapter sheds light on how actors’ strategies are shaped by not only their own interests and ideas, but by the wider institutional arrangements that shape the incentives and capacities of individual and collective actors.

This chapter has four objectives: (1) to explain the main concepts and the normative stance of the book, (2) to develop the main theory of the book, (3) to overview the history of constitutions and constitutionalism in the Arab world in relation to the book’s theory, and (4) to provide a concise introduction to the Arab Spring constitutional bargains across the region.

In this chapter, Sa’dallah Wannous’ friend Farouk Mardam-Bey, one of Syria’s foremost intellectuals living in exile, who is also the most respected doyen of Arabic literature in French translation, shares anecdotes about Wannous. He focuses on the years Wannous spent as a student in Paris from 1966 to 1968, a formative period in his apprenticeship, during which he immersed himself in the rich and tumultuous cultural and political life of Paris. Mardam-Bey argues that in addition to questioning the ambiguous relationship that existed between Europe and the Arab world, Wannous also interrogated the relationship among literature, theatre and spectacle in the contemporary world and was particularly intrigued by the association between political protest and theatre, both in conventional theatres and on the streets. The chapter's purpose is to highlight that Wannous’ encounters and friendships with a host of writers and artists from France, the Arab world and other post-colonial countries deeply affected his trajectory and writing.

Chapter 2 zooms in on the domestic politics of Iran, with particular emphasis on the personalities and institutions that have characterised the political scene, from Khomeini, Shariati and Rouhani to the IRGC, the parliament and the Assembly of Experts. It dissects the ideas behind the revolution of 1979, and shows how the Islamic Republic is recurrently contested because there is an ongoing drive to reform the system – a pluralistic momentum that clearly explains the patterns of state–society interactions in the past decades.The musical piece framing this chapter speaks to those themes: the tropes of struggle, sacrifice, revolution, change, utopia, are central to Reza Rooygari’s iconic song 'Iran Iran (Ragbar-e Mosalsalha)' which inspired a whole generation of revolutionaries in Iran, but which was also appropriated by the post-revolutionary generation to question orthodox interpretations of the Islamic Republic. The chapter gives a full account of the dynamic of contemporary Iranian domestic politics.

Chapter 5 brings the argument of the book to a logical conclusion, and paves the way for the Epilogue where the personality and political ideas of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last monarch of Iran, and Ayatollah Khomeini, the revolutionary leader who deposed him, are juxtaposed in a final assessment of the meaning of Iran and its effects on the politics of the country. Chapter 5 shows how Iran is embedded in several regions as a 'Eurasian country' and that it is at the forefront of a new order in West Asia, as a part of a radical transformation of the global system. With detailed analysis of the conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, the Iranian role is critically examined, together with its regional perception either as an imperial force with hegemonic aspirations or a convenient ally of increasingly powerful movements scattered all around the world, in particular in West Asia, of course, but also in Latin America. This chapter, as well, charters avenues for peace and reconciliation around the concept of 'human security' that is truly post-national and devoid of sectarian tensions or psycho-nationalist fervour.

Chapter 3 delves into the drivers of Iranian foreign policy. It provides a comprehensive overview of the strategic preferences of the state, their contestation within Iran and beyond and the main historical dynamics of Iran’s global ambitions. Framed with a musical piece that typifies the state-sanctioned post-revolutionary idea of Iran, the chapter explains why Iran would cooperate with the United States and even Israel and under what circumstances. Revisiting the concept of foreign policy culture, the chapter provides both empirical signposts and novel theoretical concepts for a deeper understanding of Iran’s contemporary role in world affairs.

This first chapter envelopes the topic of Iran with a global history. It is framed by Richard Strauss's symphonic poem Thus Spoke Zoroaster in order to demonstrate the book's central argument that the meaning of Iran escapes cloistered notions of 'identity' and/or ideology. The chapter shows that the area that is today’s Iran has been at the heart of civilisational and religious history since the beginning of time, alongue durée that does not make the task of understanding Iran any easier. Iran has produced and is a product of the world; few topics have zigzagged throughout global history with such a pronounced trajectory. Therefore, to understand Iran always also means to understand the past and present of global history. With close reference to philosophical concepts taken from the Avicennian tradition, this chapter sets the scene for the rest of the book, which attempts to place Iran out of our commonly known definitions of the country, its history, politics and international relations.

Critical Iranian studies', one of the conceptual planks of the book, is further developed here as a means to understand the complex triangle of Israel, the United States and Iran. It is demonstrated that the rivalry within this relationship is not driven by some eternal hatred. Rather, relations have been hijacked by hardliners on both sides, but in particular by the right wing in the United States and Israel who benefit from confrontation with Iran. The chapter is framed by a rap song by the Iranian artist Hichkas in order to pinpoint the circularity of art and culture, and how it can provide further avenues for peace and reconciliation between the countries as a prelude to better regional relations. The chapter disassembles these political constellations in order to suggest alternative, rather more rational and loving, forms of interaction.

This chapter analyses the various forms of coercion and violence that have played a central role in the shaping of the Middle East and that have affected all aspects of social life since the First World War. Notwithstanding its permanence in time and in space, the violence observed in the region is defined by distinct historical cycles. Each of these cycles began as a result of one or more violent disruptions that have a de-structuring and re-structuring impact beyond one country. Each is also determined by a specific ideological and political ‘microclimate’ and bears the mark of a given generation. The first cycle, which began with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the division of its Arab provinces, continued until the foundation of the State of Israel. The second covers a period of thirty years from 1948 to 1979. The third begins in 1979 with the Camp David II Accords and the recognition of the State of Israel by Egypt, the Iranian Revolution, the Islamist insurgency at Mecca and the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Army. The last cycle begins with the Arab revolutionary protests of 2011 and their disruptive effects on some societies.