Developments in the Middle East, from Syria to Yemen to Palestine, have prompted a reassessment of what needs to be done to resolve the issues of conflict and fragility in the region. Of course, the Arab world is diverse, which makes generalizations difficult. By and large, however, the so-called Arab Spring and what followed in terms of bloody conflicts – directly or indirectly involving most Arab States – and state weakening (and in a case or two, total collapse) demonstrated the fragility of many of the individual regimes in the Arab world as well as the impotence of the collective order of the Arab States. In particular, it exposed the wide gap that existed between ordinary citizens and their political and, by extension, administrative institutions. This chapter provides an examination of one potentially transformative idea for conflict response in the Arab world: a collaborative approach to reconstruction in the region.
This book chapter is available in 'The Arab World Beyond Conflict' by Azzam, Z and Harb, I. (Eds.), published by Arab Center Washington DC.
To cite this chapter: Barakat, S. 2019. A Collaborative Regional Reconstruction Strategy in the Arab World. In Azzam, Z. and Harb, I., ed. The Arab World Beyond Conflict. Washington: Arab Center Washington DC. Pp. 87-96.