Reconciliation, Heritage and Social Inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa, edited by Iyad Muhsen AlDajani, and Martin Leiner. Springer, Cham. 2022. XXV, 481 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08713-4.

Abstract

The idea of ​​reconciliation, heritage and social inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa has been in the spotlight for many decades, as both regions constantly present such dramatic changes that reverberate around the world. In both regions, the geopolitical interests of world and regional powers are closely intertwined, and energy reserves allow you to influence the level of prices for them. In fact, all this becomes the reason for the acute manifestation of religious conflicts, the politicization of religion and tradition, thereby creating a turbulent environment for many actors. It is also worth mentioning the unresolved issues of nation-building and nation-states, the diversity of the ethnic and religious composition of the population in many places, the uneven distribution of income in societies, the level of militarization, and much more, to present the complexity and anxiety of the overall picture. The results of the chain of revolutions that took place in these regions did not solve almost any of the urgent problems in any of the countries and at the same time caused a systemic earthquake, a series of coups, civil wars, interventions, as well as unrelenting confrontation in society, leading to rampant terror and repression. Based on a comprehensive theoretical study of the phenomenon of reconciliation, heritage and social integration, this collection of articles presents a deep analysis of events in the Middle East and North Africa, summarizes the results of the previous development of this region, and reveals the causes of social and political failures. The main conclusions of the articles lead the reader to the conclusion that turbulence in both regions is the beginning of a new process that has embraced the reconfiguration of the modern world-system. This book contains many interesting facts, generalizations and points of view. Therefore, it will be interesting and useful not only for social scientists, but also for everyone interested in the problems of systemic transformations in the Middle East and North Africa.