Au-delà du « Pays des deux fleuves » : une configuration conflictuelle régionale ?
Reinoud Leenders
The “network wars”, or “Regional Conflict Formations”
(RCFs) model is no more than the first step toward understanding the complex relationships between the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Admittedly, the levels of analysis that this model offers regarding cross-border
trafficking of people and goods are certainly an essential prerequisite to the
study of the ties between the different conflicts in the region. But a description limited to that would simply fuel the shortsightedness of the American
government’s current policies vis-à-vis the Middle East. Therefore, the
notion of regionalization of symbolic capital must be integrated into this
approach as soon as possible. Indeed, it is the only concept that allows one to
understand that the West is not an exogenous actor in Middle Eastern conflicts, and to reformulate analysis and policies accordingly. Furthermore,
given the importance of symbolic capital and foreign intervention in the
region, the static and excessively simplistic view of identity politics developed
in the RCFs model must be reviewed, in order to integrate three elements:
material cross-border ties, regional symbolic capital, and foreign intervention.
• Nouvelles guerres et configurations conflictuelles régionales
• L’Irak, la Syrie et le Liban font-ils partie d’une configuration conflictuelle
régionale ?
— Le réseau militaire et sécuritaire
— Le réseau politique
— Le réseau économique et financier
— Les réseaux sociaux
• Pertinence et limites du modèle des CCR dans le contexte
du Moyen-Orient
— Le chaînon manquant : le capital symbolique
— Les effets collatéraux de la myopie analytique