Resisting Resistance: Examining the Shifting Balance of Threats in the Middle East

With the demise of the Cold War threat, Europe believed the time was ripe to push Arab regimes to liberalize. Certain of the dominance of the pro-Western axis in the Middle East, Europe had little to fear. The Lebanon (2006) and Gaza (2009) wars, however, have cast doubt over the stability of the current regional arrangement. Militias adopting asymmetric warfare strategies have performed a much better job than conventional Arab armies usually did – a development that has undermined Europe’s regional allies. Combining insights from military sociology and neo-realism, this article examines the causes and significance of this development and how the changing regional balance is curbing Europe’s liberalizing agenda.