The field of International Relations consists of three main categories: International Actors, International Interactions and International Issues. Historically, the modern international order in Europe began with a single international actor, the nation state, and then spread to the rest of the world because of the colonial movement and the expansion of the European political and economic system throughout the world.
The twentieth century witnessed tremendous political, economic and cognitive developments that paved the way for the emergence of other actors alongside the nation state. In the twenty-first century, we saw a proliferation of international actors and actors, including States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations and new violent and non-violent actors.
This article focuses on the role and effectiveness of non-state actors in the context of the phenomenon of the emergence of failed states in the Middle East, as they are undergoing a historical phase similar to the Medieval Ages in terms of the identities of the actors and their affiliations and the nature of the interactions and developments. We focus on failed states as an appropriate socio-political environment to study the growing role of these non-state actors and their reading from the perspective of the new Medievalism in the Middle East.