How do countries across the Middle East adjust their foreign policy strategies in response to external pressures, regional rivalries, and domestic politics? At a time when the region is undergoing profound transformation, Grand Strategies of Middle East States advances a new framework for understanding why Middle Eastern states respond differently to similar challenges.

Ranging from the Arab uprisings and the Abraham Accords to the wars and crises that followed the October 7 attacks, this book provides comparative insight on how grand strategy changes over time. It demonstrates that while international pressures influence their strategic choices, Middle Eastern states exercise autonomy in shaping their grand strategies instead of simply reacting to external forces or changes in the international system, showing the significance of strategic cultures, leaders’ perceptions, and concerns over internal stability. Domestic political factors—including state-society relations, civil-military relations, institutions, and elite opinion—influence how leaders interpret regional and global developments as threats, opportunities, or both.

Featuring case studies of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran, and Turkey, Grand Strategies of Middle East States challenges approaches that focus primarily on great powers or reduce Middle Eastern politics to ideology or sectarianism. Integrating international relations theory with area expertise, this book offers a systematic account of state behavior in one of the world’s most strategically important and rapidly changing regions.