Recently, scholars have taken an interest in so-called State-Mobilized Movements (SMMs) in autocracies, which help autocracies deal with internal and external threats. This paper addresses variations in how SMMs operate, asking under what conditions autocracies opt for more centralized versus more decentralized modes of citizen mobilization. Particularly, it focuses on one form of increasingly common decentralized SMMs: government-organized NGOs (GONGOs). This paper leverages a longitudinal, within-case study of Jordanian authoritarian youth mobilization centering on a variation on the dependent variable: the fact that an elevated youth threat in one era of youth threat to the regime – the era of challenges to regime legitimacy during King Hussein's reign (1952-1999) – led to a centralized mobilization around new state institutions, such as the Ministry of Youth and by inculcating youth in state scripts. In contrast, a similar elevated youth threat around the Arab Uprisings yielded a fundamentally decentralized mobilization, characterized by GONGOs, movement-like self-governance, and a mix of state and non-state languages and scripts. Building on a mix of archival data and ethnography in Jordanian youth GONGOs, I advance an explanatory framework around the level of regime-state alignment. In the earlier period, working with an overall model of state expansion, the regime showed little restraint in leveraging state power to mobilize youth. In contrast, in the later period, the regime faced ambiguities vis á vis state institutions. Not only did the regime have qualms about the effectiveness of state institutions mobilizing youth, given that those institutions were producing the very tragic outcomes – unemployment, precarity, loss of welfare – that were generating the youth grievances and attendant youth threat that gave rise to the need to mobilize youth in the first place. Swelling the ranks of state-run organizations was also at odds with the regime’s overarching tactic of weaning youth off of state dependence in the context of neoliberalization. This resulted in a compromise: a more nebulous and decentralized form of youth mobilization in the form of GONGOs and a mix of state and non-state scripts. The level of regime-state alignment helps explain the seemingly contradictory ways autocracies mobilize citizens, like empowerment, civic activism, and liberal ideals (see, e.g., Jones 2017). Moreover, the regime-state misalignment also helps explain the emergence of GONGOs: the need for mobilization and the hesitancy in unleashing the state to do so is generative of the oxymoronic ambiguities that the GONGO acronym constitutes.

In the context of the prolonged Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Gaza Strip has faced ongoing challenges including several wars, blockades, and severe humanitarian crises. The imposition of the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007 has contributed to dire living circumstances for the Palestinian people. All the literature on this specific issue has concentrated specifically on the effects of the Israeli blockade, and the consequences of wars. This study, however, aims to fill a significant gap in the literature by focusing on the impact of international humanitarian aid on immediate needs and the socio-economic development of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Adopting a qualitative approach by conducting interviews with representatives of different NGOs; here I use the data collected to gain a deeper understanding of how foreign aid has affected the socio-economic development of the Palestinian people in the Strip and address immediate needs. This study showed that international humanitarian aid positively influences socio-economic development under normal circumstances, fostering small businesses, and mitigating consequences of poverty and stable income. However, during ongoing conflicts a shift towards emergency initiatives becomes imperative. In this study, I conclude that international humanitarian aid is crucial in addressing immediate needs and fostering socio-economic development in the Gaza Strip. It emphasizes the necessity of international efforts to ensure aid access, adherence to international law, and immediate advocacy to alleviate the suffering of the affected population.

In this paper I introduce the Women’s Center in the Old City of Damascus established in the 1990s, as a community space for educational programs and training. What I highlight is how the center transformed over time from the space for UNRWA’s different humanitarian services into a community-managed center. The center is a good case study of how such spaces figure in the lives of refugees: it was a reminder of the degradation of exile but also of opportunities. Based on ethnographic research conducted prior to the civil war in Syria, I discuss how this center played an important part in the lives of refugees through its many uses. By accessing it for humanitarian aid it reinforced their refugeeness, but as a center it amplified their agency. I rely on UNRWA archives to document the different forms of humanitarian aid offered in the space before it was transformed to a women’s center. This part also includes a discussion of the challenge of trying to construct a history of a center from an archive that contains many gaps and absences. I begin with an overview of Palestinian refugees in the Old City and the role of UNRWA in the neighborhood before introducing the center. I discuss how the center served different purposes in the early years of its operations that reflected the agency’s priorities and objectives, followed with an overview of the women’s center and the activities it offered for the betterment of the community. While the emphasis was on supporting women, the center also offered programs to other groups in the neighborhood. In addition, I discuss the significance of pivotal spaces, like the center, in the management of exile with limited resources. I conclude with how the center reflects the many realities facing Palestinian refugees in a protracted exile.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the dynamics within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an intergovernmental organization comprising 57 member states, aimed at promoting the collective interests of the Muslim community (Ummah). Uniquely based on Islamic principles, the OIC often sees its member states' political actors engaging in religious discourse during its international conferences, especially when the Muslim community is facing a crisis. Previous research has primarily focused on the activities of international NGOs regarding the reality of international cooperation based on ties of religious identity, resulting in a lack of discussion on the connection between assistance and cooperative actions taken by political actors in international organizations and religious identity. Firstly, this study delves into the specifics of foreign aid provided by OIC member states, analyzing the beneficiaries, amounts, and the contexts under which aid is given. It is grounded in primary sources, including resolutions from OIC conferences and publications like the "OIC Journal". It explores how the OIC and its members project their Islamic identity on the global stage, thereby bolstering their national identity and legitimacy. Notably, The Gulf oil-producing countries emerge as primary contributors within the OIC framework. Through mechanisms such as the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and other entities, the OIC extends aid to nations in need, benefiting not only countries hosting Syrian refugees, those affected by disasters, Palestine and Afghanistan people but also Muslim minorities in non-member states, like the Rohingya refugees. This underscores the OIC's commitment to a form of aid that transcends its member states' boundaries and is deeply rooted in religious identity. Secondly this study will incorporate a discourse analysis to assess how political actors justify these acts of foreign aid, with a particular focus on the Gulf oil-producing countries. The concluding part of this study will reveal the interplay between identity-driven foreign aid policies and the reinforcement of a state's religious legitimacy. Countries in the Middle East, guided by their values and identity, cannot afford to overlook the plight of Muslim communities beyond their borders, such as those in Palestine, without risking their own legitimacy. This study aims to illuminate various aspects of these issues through the lens of international aid diplomacy.

More than ten years after the Syrian civil war forced millions to seek refuge in neighboring states, these regional hosting states (RHS), like Jordan and Lebanon, are increasingly stressing the need for refugee returns. As one initial step, Syria was recently readmitted into the League of Arab States (Arab League) to find an "Arab solution" to the Syrian Crisis – after Jordan had strongly advocated doing so. Using repatriation in the Syrian Crisis as a case study (2011-2023), this paper unpacks the role of the Arab League as a regional intergovernmental organization in enabling refugee repatriation to Syria. In doing so, it also untangles related questions around Arab nationalism and post-colonialism in the Levant by contrasting the Arab League's origins to its role nowadays. The paper draws on primary and secondary data in English and Arabic (including policy papers and press releases) and semi-structured interviews with Arab League officials and Jordanian government representatives while analyzing the data through critical discourse analysis. Thus far, much of the existing literature on migration diplomacy in the Middle East has focused on the refugees' commodification to extract rents from Global Northern countries and international organizations. In contrast, regional actors' agency beyond rent extraction remains largely ignored. The paper argues that the Arab League's role in the region has been altered over time. While its origins may have been closely linked to Arab nationalism and colonial resistance, its actions nowadays are primarily driven by individual states' political and economic interests – given that studies indicate most refugees do not want to return to Syria at this point, and their return confirms colonially established borders. In contrasting the League's role and actions with that of other multilateral actors from outside the region, such as the European Union and the United Nations, the paper highlights how Arab states have attempted to use the League as an alternative pathway for individual policy goals in addition to complementing and challenging existing, primarily Western-driven pathways of policymaking vis-à-vis forced migration. Thus, by analyzing an inter-regional approach to migration diplomacy, the paper points towards pathways for future research, highlighting the agency of Arab States beyond refugee commodification for rent extraction and policy concessions.