The fourth Middle Eastern Congress on Politics and Society organized by the Middle East Institute, Sakarya University will take place between October 10 and 12, 2018 in Sakarya. The congress aims to create a platform which will shape Middle Eastern studies and bring in new ideas and perspectives by drawing respective scientists together. Significant developments have occurred in the Middle East during the two year-period since the Third Congress organized in 2016. It is our goal to look at historical, political and social developments of the region, which will be elaborated below, from different perspectives.

Throughout the human history, Middle East has always been a remarkable place due to the geographical area it contains, diversity of ethnic and religious structures, the civilization it has built up and the deep rooted history it has. Although there have been studies and researches approaching to all these aspects of the region from different perspectives, insufficiency of those and the need for further is obvious.  It is clear now that the nation-states founded following the WWI have now become the cradle of political, cultural and social problems due to both foreign interventions and domestic rivalries even though a century passed since the war. Therefore the current situation inevitably requires an analysis of the historical legacy and the unique chaotic structure of the Middle East in every aspect

Significant developments have taken place in the Middle East throughout the 21^st century. Especially within the context of Arab uprisings, there are new issues affecting not only the local and regional but also the global level. Already existing chaotic nature in the region have been complicated more than ever.  It is not the democratic transition expectations but the civil wars, power struggles in the Gulf region and the Palestinian issue that have set the agenda. Moreover, following the presidential election, the new Middle East policy of US President Donald Trump has signaled to reveal new dynamics. Palestinian issue has gained importance with Trump's recent decision on Quds while intention to implement hard power on Iran set the base to redesign existing alliances in the region. On the other hand, Russia's increasing involvement to the current issues as a global power has accelerated the aforementioned power struggles. All these developments provide a new challenge to regional and global actors with all the components considered. This challenge requires to rethink a set of concepts and processes from the relation between religion and state to state-society relations, from the existence of the global actors in the region to the movements of policy makers, and from search for alliances to struggles for influence more than ever.

While the Middle East has undergone a process in which the geographical status quo has been shaken and the region has witnessed struggles for power, efforts of traditional powers to reintegrate their positions have attracted attention. As result of the emerged mobility in the region and the new conditions emerge-to-be, both social scientists and policy makers felt the need for re-evaluation of social and political dynamics in the Middle East. This Congress, aims to bring the researchers and respectful scientists together to reconsider and discuss the phenomena on local communities, societies and political structures, etc. (hundred years of the Middle East, transformation of political power, struggle for influence, civil-military relations, democratic politics, new theo-political discourses, social legitimacy of authority, social justice, national self-determination, the position of the Middle East in International Politics, foreign policy, migration/refugees, the issue of al Quds) along with current events and transformation in the Middle East and its political history with reference to centenary of the end of World War I. In this line, Sakarya University Middle East Institute, as a center carries out significant works on aforementioned topics, invites academics, scientists, political actors and activists from all strata to IV. Middle Eastern Congress on Politics and Society.        

The languages of the congress are Turkish, English and Arabic with simultaneous translation.

All presented abstracts in the congress will be evaluated by double blind reviews. The full papers which passed the evaluation process may be published in "Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies", "The Journal of Iranian Studies" or "Middle East Yearbook". Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to middleeastcongress@gmail.com by filling the form on the web site by June 15, 2018. For further information and announcements, please visit our web sites:  www.ormer.sakarya.edu.tr / www.middleeastcongress.org. Paper presentations are expected to be about the topics shown in below panel contents.

1- Arab Revolutions: Where?

• Middle East Politics following the Arab Revolutions
• Policies of Regional and Global Actors towards Arab Revolutions
• The Effect of Arab Revolutions on Regional Economies and Social Structures

2- Gulf Region: Rising Actor in the Middle East

• Political and Societal Transformation in Gulf States
• Political Crisis in the Gulf: Regional Pressure towards Qatar
• Gulf Policies of the Regional and International Actors

3- Civil War in Syria

• Actors in Syrian Civil War
• Syria Policies of Regional and International Actors
• Refugee Issues

4- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in the Middle East

• Israel's Occupation Policies in Palestine
• The US Policy of Israel/Palestine during Trump Administration
• Politics of Palestine: Hamas and al-Fatah

5- Turkey - Middle East Relations

• Turkey's Relations with Regional Actors
• Non-State Actors in the Middle East and Turkey
• Political Economy of Turkey's Middle East Policy

6- Political Economy of the Middle East

• Politico-Economic Rivalry in the Middle East
• Economic Policies of Major Powers towards Middle East
• Socio-economic Dimension of the Arab Revolutions

7- Middle East in International Politics

• US Policy of the Middle East during Trump Administration
• Russia's Middle East Policy
• The Role of Middle Eastern Countries in International Politics

8- Middle East during Ottoman Period

• The Middle East Policy of the Ottoman Empire
• Social Life in the Middle East during the Ottoman Period
• Middle Eastern Economies during the Ottoman Period

9- World War I and the Middle East

• Middle East Policies of Major Powers before and after WWI
• Arabian Peninsula during WWI
• The Effects of Sykes-Picot Agreement and Balfour Declaration on the Middle East

10- Political, Economic and Social Life in Modern Middle East

• Actors in Middle Eastern Politics: Leaders, Parties and Non-State Actors
• Ethnic and Religious Structure in the Middle East
• Economic Structure and Problems in the Middle East