ABSTRACT
The complexity of the region underscored, in turn, by the presence of diverse local traditions, colonial experiences, and competing assumptions of religious values and practices, poses a challenge to conventional scholarly interpretations of the process of modernization in the Middle East. Understanding the dynamics of twenty-first-century governance in the Middle East requires an acknowledgement of the distinctive experiences of countries in this rapidly changing region. The limitations of the kind of modernization theory that attempts to explain social change solely as a manifestation of the embrace of a more rationalistic cultural position. There is also a clear sense that linear interpretations of modernization obscure the necessity for a nuanced approach and an appreciation of the role played by culture, identity, and history. One constituent which provides analytic continuity is the relevance of political and personal identities as an organizing framework for associations and networks that parallel or limit the authority of the state.
