State Building in the Middle East

@article{Blaydes2017StateBI,
  title={State Building in the Middle East},
  author={Lisa Blaydes},
  journal={Annual Review of Political Science},
  year={2017},
  volume={20},
  pages={487-504}
}
  • Lisa Blaydes
  • Published 11 May 2017
  • History, Economics
  • Annual Review of Political Science
This review examines state building in the Middle East from a long-term, historical perspective. The Middle East's early transition to settled agriculture meant the region was home to many of the most sophisticated and best-developed states in the ancient world. As Middle Eastern states emerged from Late Antiquity, their fiscal and bureaucratic capacity enabled institutional forms not possible in Europe, including reliance on slave soldiers for the state military elite as well as state control… 
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