This research analyses the reactions of the Gulf monarchies to the mass demonstrations that took place during the Arab Spring, arguing that the Arab Spring motivated Gulf ruling elites to intensify cooperation efforts under their regional alliance, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It hypothesises that the Gulf monarchies utilised the GCC as a vehicle to preserve their regimes during the Arab Spring as its members engaged in collaborative efforts in three areas to sustain and prolong their rule: enhancing regime legitimacy; heightening internal security; and collaborating in a defence scheme. The strengthening of Gulf unity through the GCC organisation proved to be a primary and ongoing strategy employed by all six Gulf governments during and after the Arab Spring and, despite the fact that a closer union compromised the sovereignty of the individual monarchies, this was accepted by all six member states. As such, the case study of Kuwait and its government response to the unrest during the Arab Spring presents an analysis of how one member state restructured its domestic policies to allow the regional alliance greater influence over its foreign and domestic affairs in order to preserve its regime and, ultimately, survive the Arab Spring.

The news shows us what we already know about the war in Syria and, in fact, any conflict in the Middle East, insofar as it resorts to familiar forms of news reportage. Typically, this can be a stream of constant violent war imagery, which in turn creates a distance between the viewer and the tragedy itself, thus producing a feeling of detachment and indifference - the familiar ‘compassion fatigue’.(Moeller, 1999) The research looks at developing a counter-point to the mainstream media by bringing to light some of the hidden histories of the affected Syrian people. Small histories are told by way of monologues, testimonies, and informal interviews with a known circle of participants. People who lived or are living with the conflict day-to-day, a group consisting of my mother, sisters, nephews, nieces and a few friends. My experience as a Syrian living outside the conflict, my relationships to the participants, and my travel to the country during this time of war are all considered as inspiring material, which both constrain and focus the topic under discussion. This participant-observer methodology incorporation with gathering material from inside the conflict enriched the research findings and pushed it towards an informing exploration of the ever-changing distance between myself and the topic. The project refuses to be another Middle Eastern art cliché. It enjoys qualities of inventive, and at once truthful, documentary practice. It embraces a personal and domestic perspective, looking through the eyes of those whom are living the conflict. At the same time, I adopt a compassionate response that seeks to engage the viewer’s sympathy, not their anger. Consequently, I investigate the ethical issues of war images and argue against the use of violent images. To inform and inspire the practice, I investigate relevant Syrian and Middle Eastern art to position the project within the contemporary Middle Eastern home-related art. These research steps led to a number of hybrid mixes of documentary and experimental short videos. The practice is supported by a number of illustrations – as additional material - which has been created when it wasn’t at all possible to gather material from Syria. The written thesis informs and supports the creative component, while the practice stands as a creative version of the written research and findings. The thesis also provides a reflective commentary on how the practice came to be, the difficult circumstances behind its production and the passage it took before it was finally realised.

This thesis examines how Israeli critical activist engagement with the Palestinian call for just peace reframes Israel-Palestine. The thesis makes a political-theoretical intervention by arguing that Israeli civil society engagement with the principles underlying just peace requires, if it is to be successful, the utilisation of non-statist conceptualisations of peace politics. The thesis draws upon feminist critical theory and postcolonial critique to theorise peace politics as a practice of solidarity. From this perspective the conflict is analysed through the prism of Nancy Fraser’s ‘all affected’ principle which asserts that all those whose lives and wellbeing are affected by an institution of power, whether that be a state or a transnational corporation, are subjects of justice in relation to that institution, whether they hold the same citizenship as its representatives or not. Thus, by virtue of sharing the same, albeit politically diffentiated, geo-political space Israelis and Palestinians residing in Israel within its 1948 borders, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as the refugees outside Israel-Palestine, are subjects of justice and potential solidarity. As such, the Palestinians have the right to demand justice not only from the state of Israel but also from its citizens. The activist work, narratives and responses of three critical Israeli case study groups are examined in relation to the call for just peace: Anarchists Against the Wall (AATW), the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), and Zochrot (Remembering). The activist narratives and practices examined testify to the way in which critical Israeli engagement with nonviolent ethical responsibility towards the Palestinian people can result in unprecedented narrative convergence, practical solidarity, and the possibility for non-domination and cohabitation. These critical activist practices reveal just peace as an emergent and ongoing project to reframe and rearticulate the contemporary relations of oppression and domination in Israel-Palestine.