Paul Aarts

Who?

Paul Aarts (1949) is a senior lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Political Science (University of Amsterdam).  He was co-founder of ZemZem, a Dutch magazine on the Middle East, North Africa and Islam. He developed the 'Zeytun Academic Exchange' program with academic institutes in several Middle Eastern countries (see below). He has undertaken consultancy work on the Middle East for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Security and Justice, the European Commission and other institutions. Aarts regularly contributes to public debates on matters related to the Middle East. For an interview (in Dutch) with Aarts, see Folia Civitatis (nr. 10, 3 november 2010). An interview on the 'Arab Spring' ("It's the economy stupid!"), see Vredesmagazine (2011, no. 3, pp. 22-25, in Dutch); and an interview on the Zeytun exchange programmes, see Transfer (March 6, 2012, in Dutch).


ZemZem

Folia

Vredesmagazine

Transfer

Affiliated with?

• Secretary of the Leonhard-Woltjer Foundation ('Nederlands Instituut voor het Arabisch Cultuurgebied', NIAC)
• Member of the Board of NIPI ('Nederlands Instituut Palestina/Israël') [www.nipi.nl]
• Member of the Board of Governors of the Yemen College of Middle Eastern Studies, Sana'a [www.ycmes.org]
• Member of the Advisory Board of the Sheba Center for Strategic Studies (Sana'a) [http://www.shebacss.com/en/]
• Member of the board of Bridging the Gulf, Foundation for Human Security in the Gulf Region [http://www.bridgingthegulf.org/]
  

Teaching: Cooperating with?

For teaching purposes he cooperates with the School of International Relations and the Faculty of World Studies (University of Tehran) in Iran (a yearly exchange programme); in Syria with the University of Kalamoon, Deir Atieh); in Yemen with Sana'a University and the Yemen College of Middle Eastern Studies, Sana'a) and in Iraq with the University of Kurdistan Hawler, Erbil. Similar projects are being developed with academic institutes in Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian occupied territories. More information via www.zeytun.org

ZEYTUN

SIR (Tehran)

University of Kalamoon

Sana'a University

Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran

Specializing in?

International relations in general and politics and economics of the Middle East in particular.
Regional focus: the Middle Eastand North Africa,with special emphasis onthe Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran in particular). See below: 'Writing what?

Research:

For research purposes he acted as one of the academic coordinators of the research project on 'Civil society in West Asia'.

Hivos

Writing what?

Publications mainly in the field of politics and economics of the Middle East and North Africa, with special emphasis on the oil-exporting countries. Topics covered in recent years:

• State-society complexes, in particular studies on the 'rentier state'
• politics and economics of regionalisation
• restructuring of the world oil industry
• the second and the third Gulf War
• Islam and internationalism
• the peace process in the Middle East
• Islam and democracy in the Islamic Republic of Iran
• 9/11 and the notion of exporting democracy to the Middle East
• political Islam
• the political economy of a Palestinian state
• authoritarian resilience: the House of Saud
• the rise of China in the Persian Gulf region
• the re-organisation of the security sector in Saudi Arabia
• Saudi-European relations: politics, economics and the environment
• Saudi-Iranian relations in 2030
• Foggy prospects of the 'Arab Spring'
• Civil society in Iran and Syria
  

The list of publications includes eight edited volumes (seven in Dutch, one in English), chapters in several books (in Dutch and English) and a large number of articles in academic and other magazines (in Dutch, English, French, Arabic and Japanese, see below).

• Saudi Arabia in the Balance. Political Economy, Society, ForeignAffairs, edited withGerd Nonneman, London / New York: Hurst & Company/ New York University Press, 2005/2006 (soon to appear in updated Arabic translation at the Center for Arab Unity Studies in Beirut, Lebanon).
  

• Excellent reviews in a.o. The Economist, InternationalAffairs, The Middle East, Middle EastPolicy, The Middle East Journal, and Foreign Affairs.

• 'Geopolitics after 9/11: Did Iran Benefit?' in Democracy & Society, Vol. 9, Issue 1, Spring 2012, pp. 1, 14-17 (with Stephan de Vries).

• 'Arabische lente, een mistig seizoen', in Socialisme & Democratie 2011, nr. 4, pp. 7-15 (samen met Marcia Luyten).
• Een verkorte, geactualiseerde versie van het artikel in Socialisme & Democratie verscheen in de Volkskrant, 28 mei 2011.
• Een enigszins geactualiseerde versie verscheen ook in ZemZem, nr. 1, 2011.
  

• 'De opstand in Bahrein kan overslaan naar Saoedi-Arabië, de grootste olieproducent ter wereld. Dat was twee weken geleden nog ondenkbaar,' NRC Handelsblad (Opinie & Debat, 26 februari 2011, pp. 8-9).

• Ook verschenen als 'Het kan overwaaien naar Saoedi-Arabië', in DeStandaard, 28 februari 2011.

• 'Maintaining authoritarianism: The jerky path of political reform in Saudi Arabia', in Orient, 2011/1

• 'The political economy of Saudi-Iranian relations: present and future', in Jean-Francois Seznec & Mimi Kerk (eds.), Industrialization in the Gulf. A socioeconomic revolution (London/New York: Routledge, 2010), pp. 57-77 (with Joris van Duijne).
  

• 'Saudi Arabia and Iran: Less Antagonism, More Pragmatism'. In Viewpoints Special Edition, 'The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1979-2009: Evolution of a Pivotal State', Middle East Institute, Washington, DC, pp. 62-64 (with Joris van Duijne).

• 'Saudi Arabia after U.S.-Iranian Détente: Left in the Lurch?', Middle East Policy, Vol. XVI, No. 3, Fall 2009, pp. 64-78 (together with Joris van Duijne).

• 'The Saudi Security Environment: Plus Ca Change...', in Laura Guazzone & Daniela Pioppi (eds.), The Arab State and Neo-Liberal Globalization. The Restructuring of State Power in the Middle East (Reading: Ithaca Press, 2009), pp. 275-297 (together with Joris van Duijne).
  

• 'Kingdom with borders: the political economy of Saudi-European relations', in Madawi Al-Rasheed (ed.), Kingdom without Borders. Saudi Arabia's Political, Religious and Media Frontiers (London: Hurst, 2008), pp. 135-156 (togetherwith Roos Meertens and Joris van Duijne).
  

• 'Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States: Continuity Amidst Instability', in Strategic Survey 2008, London: The International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2008, pp. 235-245 (together with Joris van Duijne).

• Paul Aarts en Sietse Bosgra, 'Praten met Hamas', in Internationale Spectator, april 2008, pp. 232-236.

• Paul Aarts, ‘TheLongevity of the House of Saud. Looking Outside the Box,’in OliverSchlumberger (ed.), Debating Arab Authoritarianism. Dynamics and Durability in Nondemocratic Regimes (Stanford University Press, 2007), pp. 251-267.

• Paul Aarts, 'Saudi Arabia Walks the Tightrope', in The International Spectator (Rome), Vol. 42, No. 4, December 2007, pp. 545-500.

• Paul Aarts &Machteld van Rijsingen, 'Beijing's Rising Star in the Gulf Region: The Near and the Distant Future', in Eckart Woerzt (ed.), Gulf Geo-Economics. Dubai: Gulf Research Center, 2007, pp. 23-58. [Also published in Journal of Greater Middle Eastern Studies (Seoul, Korea), Vol. 1 (2008), No. 1, pp. 35-89].

• 'Cultuur en strategie:de Verenigde Staten en het Iraakse fiasco',Vrede en Veiligheid, 34 (2), 2005, pp. 194-213(with Gep Eisenloeffel and Paul van Hooft).  

• 'Lions of Tawhid in the Polder', Middle East Report, Summer 2005, No. 235, Vol.35, No. 2 (with Fadi Hirzalla).

• 'The Internal and the External: The House of Saud's Longevity Explained' (Florence: RobertSchuman Centre, European University Institute, RSCAS No.2004/33).

• 'Shades of Opinion: The Oil-Exporting Countries and International Climate Politics', in The Review of International Affairs, Winter 2003/2004; (with Dennis Janssen).
• Also published in: Gerd Nonneman (ed.), Analyzing Middle East Foreign Policies and the Relationship with Europe.London/New York: Routledge 2005, pp. 223-242.

• Islam,de woede en het Westen,edited with Jan Keulen, Amsterdam: Bulaaq, 2001.

• 'Post-War Kuwait and the Process of Democratization: the Persistence of Political Tribalism', in: Abbas Abdelkarim (ed.), Change and Development in the Gulf, Macmillan 1999: pp. 213-237.
  

• 'The Middle East: Eternally Out of Step with History?', in KennethP. Thomas & Mary Ann Tétreault (eds.), Racing to Regionalize. Democracy, Capitalism, amd Regional Political Economy, Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner 1999.

The Oil Weapon: A One-Shot Edition?UnitedArab Emirates/Abu Dhabi: ECSSR, 1999.

The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research

Waar ligt de grens? Kritische beschouwingen overhetvredesproces tussen Palestina en Israël, edited with Mouin Rabbani, Bussum: Coutinho, 1996.

Stilte na de Storm. De TweedeGolfoorlog in perspectief, edited with Bert Bomert, Nijmegen: Studiecentrum voor Vredesvraagstukken, 1993.

Geld, goed en godsdienst in hetMidden-Oosten , edited, Bussum: Coutinho, 1991.

Islamitisch fundamentalisme, edited with  Kees Wagtendonk,Bussum: Coutinho, 1986.

De Arabische Uitdaging. Europa oog in oog met een nieuwe realiteit, edited with Barry van Heijningen,Rotterdam: Ordeman, 1982.

Het Midden-Oosten en Noord-Afrika. Een politiek landenboek, edited, Weesp/Antwerpen: Het Wereldvenster/Standaard Uitgeverij, 1983.

zemzem

List of scholarly journals in which articles have been published:

• The Arab Journalof International Studies (Arabic)
• Arab Studies Quarterly
• Civil Society
• Civis Mundi (Dutch)
• Derde Wereld (Dutch)
• Etelaat Eqtesadi (Persian)
• Facta (Dutch)
• International Journal of Political Economy
• Internationale Spectator (Dutch)
• JIME Cairo Report (Japanese)
• JIME Review
• Journal ofGreater Middle Eastern Studies (Seoul, Korea)
• Krisis (Dutch)
• MERA Occasional Papers
• MERIP Middle East Report
• Monde Arabe/Maghreb-Machrek (French)
• OPEC Review
• Orient
• Raw Materials Report
• Review of International Affairs
• Sharqiyyât(Dutch)
• The Emirates Occasional Papers
• The International Spectator (English)
• The Lancaster Papers
• Third World Quarterly
• Tijdschrift voor Politieke Economie (TPE) (Dutch)
• Transaktie/Vrede & Veiligheid (Dutch)
• Socialisme & Democratie
  

Apart from scholarly articles: regular book reviews and shorter contributions to:

• OPEC Bulletin
• British Journal for Middle Eastern Studies
• Bibliotheca Orientalis
• De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)
• Jason (Dutch)
• The Middle East Journal
• Vrij Nederland(Dutch)
• Soera (Dutch)
• ZemZem (Dutch)