Mr Rakan AlGhaniem

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Bio

Rakan Nawaf AlGhaniem is a Ph.D. student in International Relations in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research focuses on regional security, political economy, geopolitics, and Middle Eastern affairs. His professional experience includes policy and security analysis. He is a U.S. Department of State alumnus through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and has participated in programs and initiatives with the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and the OSCE.

Regional Economic Integration and Interstate Conflict: Toward an Economically Grounded Security Architecture for the Middle East

Abstract

This paper examines whether regional economic integration is associated with lower interstate conflict and under what conditions it may contribute to regional security in the Middle East. Building on commercial-peace, network, institutional, and deterrence research, it develops a region-year framework and presents descriptive evidence for 1990–2014 across five regions. The analysis highlights the Middle East’s low intra-regional trade and high normalized MID incidence while treating these patterns as motivation, not causal findings, for future analysis.