Book Presentation

Post-Ottoman Transitions: Rethinking Nation-State Trajectories in the Arab and Turkish Contexts
 ed. Soumaya Louhichi and Jamal Barout

Ergon, 2026

This edited volume interrogates the post-Ottoman transition in the former Ottoman provinces, reframing the emergence of Modern nation-states not as abrupt ruptures but as complex and layered processes of transformation. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of continuity and change, the book critically engages with conventional nationalist historiographies that depict the fall of the Ottoman Empire as a clear-cut break, instead drawing attention to enduring Ottoman political, administrative, and legal legacies.
Through a wide range of case studies—from the Kurdish question in Syria and the border disputes over Mosul and Alexandretta, to Lebanese–Turkish relations under the French Mandate, Iraqi–Turkish diplomacy during World War II, the rivalry between Pan-Arabism and the Baghdad Pact during the Suez Crisis, Turkish–Arab relations in the Özal era, and Turkey’s evolving security role in Libya after 2011—the volume foregrounds the interplay between imperial remnants, colonial mandates, and emerging nationalisms.
It further integrates transnational and local perspectives, revealing how peripheral actors, borderland communities, and institutional continuities shaped state-building processes in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Egypt.
Methodologically, the contributions deploy both macro-historical and micro-historical approaches, incorporating archival research, discourse analysis, and border studies. The book offers an important corrective to state-centric historiographies and contributes significantly to Middle Eastern studies, borderlands scholarship, and theories of sovereignty and identity formation. Its nuanced portrayal of post-imperial transformation has both scholarly and practical implications for understanding ongoing political tensions in the region.