This project explores concepts of sovereignty in the Middle East. It is driven by both theoretical and empirical questions, particularly in light of the fragmentation of regime-society relations. I am particularly interested in the construction of formal and informal structures that are designed to regulate behaviour in a biopolitical sense. I am interested in the work of Giorgio Agamben, particularly the concepts of bare life and the state of exception, which I have used to interrogate regime-society relations in periods of flux. This topic is the focus of my next book 'Houses Built On Sand', which will be published by Manchester University Press in 2019.