ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the challenges of ineffective relationships between Middle Eastern governments and their respective populations: It does so through a focus on mistrust as a key feature of the governance deficit in the region. Conceptually driven, the chapter problematizes the literature on governance and its emphasis on authoritarianism. Little has been written about the lack of trust between Middle Eastern governments and their populations. Governance is not simply about who governs and in which ways but also about those being governed: how do Middle Eastern people feel about their representatives? In doing so it aims to provide a new approach for thinking about Middle Eastern governance, based on a “thicker” understanding of trust/mistrust relations, human security, informal networks, communities of practice and bottom-up approaches. Despite the vast amount of work on Middle Eastern governance, no work to date has been carried out on the possible contribution of human security and trust-building in Middle Eastern governments–citizens’ relations. This chapter fills this gap. The approach taken here is aimed at unearthing new understandings of the nature of governance and pertinent challenges that remain in this region.
