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Professor Dawn Chatty writes for Debating Development on Bedouin tribes and the Syrian uprising

An FSA soldier at Atme camp for Internally displaced Syrians on the Syrian side just over the border with Turkey © IRIN / J Hilton
An FSA soldier at Atme camp for Internally displaced Syrians on the Syrian side just over the border with Turkey

The understanding of tribes in the contemporary Middle East has undergone significant changes over the past century; at times the tribes have been rendered invisible and at other times they have been important partners in local governance. And although Bedouin tribes have been largely missing from contemporary political discourse, there is convincing evidence that, in fact, they never disappeared; they simply were not officially acknowledged.

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