ABSTRACT
On the face of it, an institutional approach to Middle East regionalisms seems most appropriate. First, the influential literature of both older schools and newer voices offer ready-to-use concepts (Keohane 2001; Acharya and Johnston 2007). Second, the League of Arab States (LAS) is one of the oldest regional organisations; its project predates the establishment of the United Nations (UN) itself (Awad 1994; Barnett and Solingen 2007; Gomaa 1977). Third, the Middle East manifests regional institutional density (Harders and Legrenzi 2007), from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to UN regional bodies (Europa Yearbook Publications 2009, 1305–409). I counted no fewer than 22 UN-affiliated institutions directly involved in the region, from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
