Conflicts in the Middle East are increasingly ‘transnational’, spreading beyond national borders and becoming intertwined with regional and global trade.
Governments and formal institutions collaborate with informal traders and armed groups to operate both legal and illegal supply chains – moving people, capital and goods along routes across Iran, Iraq, Türkiye, and the Levant.
One grouping associated with these regional dynamics is the Axis of Resistance, which views its role as opposing Israeli and US ‘imperialism’ in the Middle East.
The Axis connects Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Iraq, the Assad regime in Syria, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen. Another example is the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which pursues its nationalist armed struggle against the Turkish state across Iraq, Syria and Türkiye.
Groups like the Axis of Resistance blur the line between licit and illicit activity, and state and non-state actors, because they operate in and influence both formal and informal government institutions. They are part of the decision-making structures of multiple states in the region, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen.
This article examines how these groups operate and gain power from cross-border trade using three case studies: the supposedly ‘legal’ tomatoes supply chain, the ‘illegal’ narcotics supply chain, and the dynamics around two key Iraqi conflict ‘hubs’ – the towns of al-Qaem and Rutba.
The article also explains how the use of military strikes and sanctions has failed to reduce conflict or illegal trade and has instead disproportionately harmed local populations.
Understanding these supply chains offers a crucial insight into the true power dynamics that connect the Middle East.
Read full article here.