The war in Gaza, the decline of US leadership and the emergence of a networked regional order

Abstract

The War in Gaza is an inflection point in Middle Eastern history pushing the region onto a new trajectory. The 7th of October attack by Hamas and the response by Israel have upended many assumptions about a US-centric regional order. Washington looks increasingly helplessly onto regional developments that are shaped by regional state and non-state actors. The new apolar, regional order is network-centric and revolves around a delicate stability equilibrium that is constantly changing. Order in the Middle East appears to be increasingly spontaneous and thereby vulnerable to singular events often brought about by networks of non-state actors–of which Hamas is just one of many.