From Hegemony to Hedging? The Changing Nature of Alliance Politics in the Greater Middle East

The Greater Middle East is undergoing a significant transformation in its regional and international security environment. The changing role of the United States, the growing involvement of Russia and China, and the consequences of recent regional wars—including the Iran War—have challenged established patterns of alliance and security dependence. Rather than simply aligning with a dominant external power, regional states and non-state actors (NSAs) increasingly appear to be pursuing strategies of diversification, strategic autonomy, and hedging across competing powers and political networks.
This panel examines how and why alliance politics in the Greater Middle East is changing, with particular attention to the interactions between states and NSAs and to the domestic political motivations that shape alliance formation and realignment. It asks whether the region is moving from a predominantly US-centered security order toward a more fluid and contested system of alignments, and whether changing international structures are in fact producing new forms of strategic autonomy. Beyond conventional approaches that understand alliance formation primarily as a response to external threats and shifts in the balance of power, the panel considers how domestic political interests, regime survival, ideological commitments, and state–NSA relations influence the making and remaking of alliances.
The panel also engages a broader theoretical question: is hegemony-free alliance-making—and hegemony-free alliance structures—ever possible in the Global South? Contributions may examine the changing strategies of regional states and NSAs, the evolving roles of the United States, Russia, China, Iran, and other external and regional actors, and the implications of recent conflicts for alliance commitments, security partnerships, and regional power dynamics. By bringing together international, regional, and domestic levels of analysis, the panel seeks to illuminate how alliances are constructed, contested, and transformed in periods of hegemonic uncertainty.