Kyianytsia L. The impact of the 'Arab Spring' on the regional balance of power in the Middle East

This dissertation is devoted to the study of the problems of the impact of the 'Arab Spring,' a transnational revolutionary process having engulfed the Middle East in the early 2010s, on the structures of regional balance of power. The dissertation consists of Introduction, four chapters, and Conclusions. The List of References encompassing 342 items is appended thereto on 28 pages. The Introduction section presents a discussion of such aspects as the relevance and the scholarly and practical importance of the dissertation, its object and subject matter, purpose and tasks, scientific novelty, methodology and approbation. Chapter 1 deals with the review of the academic literature published in respect of the study's subject matter as well as with the problems of the study's methodological foundations in their connection with the latter's tasks. The author presents his objections to the commonly accepted Structural Realist methodology, noting its substantial flaws and subscribing to those scholars who have long recognized the need to combine Structural Realism with Social Constructivism in the study of International Relations (e.g. B. Buzan). The author then proceeds with the critical analysis of securitization theories and theory of regional security complexes, properly crediting their authors and presenting his personal take on the dynamics of the Middle Eastern security complex's development in the context of the 'Arab Spring'.