Since its post-1945 origins, security studies has evolved from a narrowly state-centric, military preoccupation into a pluralistic field that interrogates how power, identity, and vulnerability shape “security”. The critical turn, accelerated after the Cold War, prioritised the lived insecurities of marginalised groups, brought issues such as gender, migration, climate change, public health, and cyberspace to the fore, and questioned who gets to define threats and with what consequences. Yet this intellectual expansion has also generated theoretical fragmentation, methodological disputes, and doubts about practical relevance.
In the Arab world, Critical Security Studies (CSS) remains fledgling. Traditional national-security paradigms prevail, Arabic-language scholarship is scarce, and local security problems are rarely analysed through critical lenses that move beyond the state. Siyasat Arabiya therefore dedicates a special issue, guest-edited by Muhanad Seloom and Sid-Ahmed Goudjili (Critical Security Studies Programme, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies), to:
- introduce CSS to Arabic-speaking audiences;
- map its historical and institutional trajectories;
- assess its current state, internal debates, and ethical dilemmas;
- assess its analytical utility for addressing contemporary security challenges across the Arab region.
- interrogate whether CSS can travel beyond its Global-North birthplace.
A central question animates the issue: What is the value of critical security studies, analytically, normatively, and practically, for the Arab region today?
Thematic Focus
We welcome manuscripts that engage any of the following (illustrative, not exhaustive) angles:
Conceptual Foundations | Genealogies of “security”, securitisation theory, human/non-human security, feminist and post-colonial critiques. |
Methodological Innovation | Ethnography, discourse and visual analysis, archival recovery, participatory methods in high-risk settings. |
Issue-Area Applications | Climate adaptation, pandemics, food and water security, urban policing, surveillance capitalism, AI-enabled authoritarianism, energy transition, border and migration governance. |
Regional Case Studies | Gendered (in)security in conflict zones; securitisation of refugees; cyber-sovereignty debates; Gulf climate agendas; intelligence reform after uprisings. |
Ethics and Practice | Researcher positionality, de-colonising knowledge production, praxis partnerships with civil-society actors, teaching CSS in Arab universities. |
All submissions should demonstrate a solid grasp of CSS scholarship, situate arguments historically and theoretically, and, wherever possible, ground analysis in Arab or broader MENA contexts.
Eligibility and Disciplinary Reach
We invite contributions from scholars of all genders, disciplinary homes, and career stages. Relevant fields include political science, sociology, anthropology, migration studies, criminology, environmental and energy studies, surveillance and intelligence studies, cybersecurity, insurance and risk analysis, data science, and AI ethics. Interdisciplinary work is especially encouraged.
Submission Schedule
Abstract (≤ 250 words)
| Saturday, 9 August 2025 |
Editorial decision on abstracts | Thursday, 25 September 2025 |
Full paper (7,000–9,000 words including references) | Saturday, 11 April 2026 |
Abstracts, and later manuscripts, must be uploaded via the Siyasat Arabiya researcher portal and adhere to the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies’ style guide. Abstract acceptance does not guarantee publication; all full papers undergo double-blind peer review.
Queries
Email: siyasat.arabia@dohainstitute.edu.qa
We look forward to your contributions toward enriching Arabic-language scholarship in critical security studies and advancing vibrant debate on security’s theory and practice in the region.
Please see the attached background paper on this special issue.
