ABSTRACT
Our understanding of power relations within contemporary political systems rarely questions the clear-cut distinction between formal and informal powers. The realm of informal political power is often understood as secondary, marginal or deviant with respect to formal processes and institutions of politics. At the same time, excessive focus on formal(ized) power processes has diverted our attention from another critical political mechanisms, namely the constant interplay between formal and informal powers. This collection of essays covers key ways in which this interplay can be organically examined within the specific context of the ‘Greater Middle East’ — a region that, for the scope and purposes of the present volume, extends from Morocco to the five independent republics of post-Soviet Central Asia.
