In the 1950s and 1960s, a wave of military coups in the Middle East triggered extensive research on the role of military forces throughout the region. Since the early 1980s however, civil-military relations in the Middle East have been the subject of scholarly neglect. In the wake of the Arab Spring, researchers are again turning their attention to the role of the armed forces and their impact on social and political developments in the Middle East.
Kårtveit, Bård & Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert (2014) Civil-Military Relations in the Middle East: A Literature Review. CMI Working Paper: 5. CMI.