weathering a global transition: the middle east’s balancing momentum

Regional trends strongly influence and are influenced by global power flows. for decades, international politics have been shaped and reshaped by a bipolar and, after the break down of the ussr, a unipolar world order. both orders played a significant role in shaping and directing middle eastern politics. yet the unipolar order is no longer at play. and since the global flow of power is ongoing, a new world order is being shaped in what seems to be a lengthy transitional period. this article focuses on the effects of the global transition of power in the middle east and the region’s efforts and mechanisms to cope with it. i argue that the spill-over of international volatility into the middle east creates a less stable regional politics, and that efforts for balancing are pursued by regional powers to increase their maneuverability as well as their coping capabilities in a volatile era by distancing their policies from global actors’ priorities and standoffs. the article is structured such that after an introduction, i delve into the meaning and nature of the global transition of power, which serves as the paper’s the conceptual framework. in the ensuing four sections, i discuss the imbalanced nature of regional politics as well as the way in which the region is interpreting and thereupon coping with the global change.