What next for Britain in the Middle East ? : security, trade and foreign policy after Brexit / edited by Christopher Phillips, Michael Stephens

Michael Stephens is a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), and an Associate Fellow at RUSI where he previously worked as the Research Fellow for Middle East Studies. Michael was seconded to the Foreign and Commonwealth in 2017 serving as the Senior Research Analyst for Lebanon and Syria.

As the UK enters a period of intense public introspection in the wake of Brexit, this book takes on one of the key questions emerging from the divisive process: what is Britains place in the world? The Middle East is one of the regions the UK has been most engaged in historically. The current weakening of states, rise of Jihadist non-state actors, flows of refugees, increased Iranian-Gulf tension and economic uncertainty are among the many MENA issues now impacting on London. This book assesses the drivers of foreign policy successes and failures and asks if there is a way to revitalise British influence in the region, and if this is even desirable. The book analyses the values, trade and security concerns that drive the UKs foreign policy. There are separate chapters on the non-Arab powers - Israel, Turkey and Iran - as well as chapters on the Middle Eastern Arab states and regions including the Gulf, Iraq, Egypt, and Syria and the Levant. The contributions are from the leading specialists in the field from both universities and from institutions such as RUSI, Chatham House and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Rosemary Hollis, Michael Clarke, Ian Black, Christopher Phillips, Jane Kinninmont, Michael Stephens and Gareth Stansfield. They each explain and re-assess the declining western influence and continued instability in the region and what this means for the UKs priorities and strategy towards the MENA. This is an essential book for policy makers, journalists and researchers focused on foreign policy towards the Middle East.