Studies in international relations and comparative politics are based on a state-centered framework. They analyze international relations primarily as the interactions of relatively unified states and accord primacy to state actors. Those focusing on domestic politics tend to examine it within state boundaries, emphasizing the role of state actors, citizen’s practices and institutions. Yet, given the level of globalization, the fluidity of groups and movements across borders, the relationships between non-state actors and elites with access to state funds, etc. should we continue to conceptualize international relations as relations between (relatively) sovereign states? Should we continue to examine questions of domestic politics as relatively limited to and defined by the boundaries of the state? Is this the appropriate framework, or do we need to "think outside the state"? What would thinking “outside the state” look like? And how do transnational processes articulate with nation-state ones? We have gathered together an excellent group of well-respected and particularly engaged scholars willing to address these issues. The group includes scholars who focus on very different parts of the region, from North Africa to the Gulf; address different subspecialties, including Political Theory, Comparative Politics and International Relations; and use very different methodological and theoretical perspectives. Their work also suggests that they see the importance of the state somewhat differently.