Hybrid Actors: Armed Groups and State Fragmentation in the Middle East

The hybrid actors, as a worldwide phenomenon, have become a topic that requires examination, especially with the state fragmentation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In MENA Region, numerous militant groups and military actors have emerged including factions, brigades, forces, companies, detachments etc. These groups have been challenging the regime’s monopoly of violence. The claim of the book is that the phenomenon is not a simple civil revolt. The phenomenon is the reflection of an erosion of the state’s superstructure and the definition of “non-state actors” is inadequate to explain the phenomenon. For this reason, the book adds the subtitle “hybrid actor” to the definition.