Empire Studies in the Modern Middle East
Summary
Empire studies in the modern Middle East examine the legacies of Ottoman rule, European colonialism and the mandates that reshaped the region’s political, social and cultural landscapes. Scholars trace how imperial infrastructures—such as railways, legal codes and administrative divisions—endured into nation-state formation and postcolonial governance. Interdisciplinary work highlights the circulation of ideas, technologies and elites across imperial borders, from nineteenth-century Arabic medical journals to revolutionary networks linking Istanbul with Soviet Central Asia. Attention to border regimes and economic entanglements during interwar crises reveals the continuing salience of imperially inherited tariffs, smuggling circuits and consular jurisdictions. Recent studies also engage memory and heritage, exploring how museums, monuments and archives mediate competing claims to imperial pasts. This field not only illuminates patterns of centre-periphery interaction and resistance, but also informs contemporary debates on migration, energy geopolitics and regional integration.
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Empire Studies in the Modern Middle East publication trend
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Technical terms
Empire studies: The interdisciplinary analysis of empires’ political, social and cultural systems and their legacies in successor states.
Nāhda: The nineteenth-century Arab renaissance in literature, science and education that engaged with Ottoman and European reforms.
Border regime: The institutional, legal and enforcement structures governing movement and trade across territorial frontiers.
Revolutionary diplomacy: Diplomatic activities conducted by non-state or insurgent actors to forge alliances and treaties beyond recognised government channels.
References
- Medicine and Arabic literary production in the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century. The British Journal for the History of Science (2022).
- The Great Depression and the Making of Turkish-Syrian Border, 1921–1939. International Journal Middle East Studies (2020).
- Internationalism, Diplomacy and the Revolutionary Origins of the Middle East's ‘Northern Tier’. Contemporary European History (2021).
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