"Gokhan Bacik persuasively shows that the sovereign state in the Middle East can best be understood with a model of 'hybrid sovereignty', comprising the impact of the colonial past and traditional formations. While doing this he also leads the reader to question the conventional Westphalian formulation of sovereignty as a feature of state-to-state relations and instead brings an insight in terms of state-to-society relations. A fascinating attempt to look at the history of state formation in the Middle East through new eyes and from new angles."--Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev, Middle East Technical University, author of International Relations and the Philosophy of Historyand Ottoman Diplomacy: Conventional or Unconventional? #xA0; "Bacik's clear, detailed, and convincing analysis provides crucial insights into the power and sovereignty of the state in Arab countries. This book deserves your attention." --Fuat Keyman, Koc University, author of Globalization, State, Identity/Difference.