The article takes a theoretical perspective on the internal and external
factors that shaped the development of a regional security system in the Middle East. It is noted that these factors were closely linked to the geostrategic position, resource
base, demographics, ethnic and religious composition of the population, cultural
traditions, and historical heritage of Middle Eastern countries. Particular attention is
paid to the analysis of the specifics of political systems in Arab countries, which had a
significant impact on the development of national security strategies and the definition
of threats to security in the Middle East. The armed forces and officer corps have
traditionally been a guarantee of Arab countries’ security and regional stability in the
Middle East.
The author emphasizes that at the turn of the 21st century, the evolution of
political thought and Islamic ideology changed the role of Islam in the military and
Arab society. The growing sectarian strife weakened the secular nature of Arab
nationalist ideology, replacing it with radical Islamist ideas, which, amid the escalating
political tensions, exacerbated the sectarian conflicts in the region. As a result, low-intensity conflicts and hybrid wars have become one of the core aspects of political
confrontation in the Middle East. Rooted in deep historical contradictions and sectarian
hostility, such conflicts were protracted and latent in nature.
The increasing proliferation of religious conflicts changed the nature of modern
warfare and national armed forces in the Middle East. Non-state armed groups and
faith-based militias came to be actors in these conflicts. They shared a common
existential foundation that was embedded in patterns of religious dominance ingrained
in their political consciousness. The processes of war transformation and the evolution
of Arab armed forces taking place in the region have created an enabling environment
for militant Islamists and external religious expansionism in the region.
Middle East; security; political systems; armed forces; Islamists; hybrid wars.