Jurnal ICMES

Reconstruction of Female Subjectivity

2026-06-29T20:20:19+07:00

Saudi Vision 2030 integrates women into the post-oil development agenda as an effort to address the crisis of the rentier economic structure. This study aims to analyze the reconstruction of women’s subjectivity in Saudi Vision 2030 amid the tension between Wahhabi orthodoxy and the post-oil development transformation agenda. Using Spivak’s postcolonial feminist perspective, this study argues that the integration of women into the economic participation under Saudi Vision 2030 does not merely reflect an emancipation project, but is part of the state’s strategy in responding to the rentier economic crisis. The representation of women as subjects of development tends to be instrumental and has the potential to distort women’s agency itself. This study employs a qualitative approach using a single-case study method and a literature review. The findings reveal that the state reconstructs women’s subjectivity through the production of development discourses, the top-down institutionalization of policies, and the restriction of women’s political spaces. This process involves the co-optation of Wahhabi religious authorities to maintain social legitimacy. This study is significant because it critiques the narrative of gender reform, which is often viewed as a form of “progressivism.” Gender transformation within Saudi Vision 2030 must be understood as an adaptation of social structures to post-oil economic demands, as well as a political instrument to strengthen state control over societal and political dynamics. Thus, this study emphasizes the importance of positioning women as autonomous political subjects to achieve holistic gender equality.

From Epic to Resistance

2026-06-29T20:20:19+07:00

This article examines the relationship between Persian literary memory and the formation of the narrative of modern Iranian resistance amid global geopolitical pressures. So far, Iran's resilience has more often been explained through military factors, state ideology, and geopolitical strategy, while the cultural-civilizational dimension has received relatively little attention in contemporary Iranian studies. This study seeks to answer the question of how the Persian literary tradition, especially Ferdowsi's Shahnameh epic, contributes to the formation of the collective identity and psychological resilience of modern Iranian society. This study uses a historical-interpretive approach to understand the relationship between the classical Persian literary tradition and the formation of modern Iranian political identity. The results show that Shahnameh serves not only as a classic post-Islamic literary work, but also as a symbolic archive that reproduces the values of heroism, dignity, sacrifice, and resistance in the contemporary Iranian political imagination. The study also shows that the resilience of modern Iran was formed through the interaction between the memory of Persian civilization and Shia political theology. This article contributes to the development of the study of cultural geopolitics and civilizational resilience in contemporary Middle East studies.

The Influence of Geopolitical Awareness on Indonesian Students' Critical Attitudes in Egypt Regarding the Israel-Palestine Conflict

2026-06-29T20:20:20+07:00

This study explores the geopolitical awareness factors that influence the critical attitudes of Indonesian students in Egypt toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The main subjects of this study are Indonesian students in Egypt. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a protracted dispute over territory and competing claims to sovereignty, has escalated again following the surprise attack carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023, known as Operation Toofan Al-Aqsa. Since then, relations between the two sides have grown increasingly tense, with repercussions for geopolitical tensions across the Middle East and even the world. This study employs a mixed-methods approach with a convergent parallel design. This approach is used to measure the relationship between the awareness variables that influence the critical attitudes of Indonesian students in Egypt regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and is supported by the theory of awareness and the theory of critical attitude as the main variables of this study. Data were obtained through questionnaires and interviews with several Indonesian students in Egypt. The findings indicate that the geopolitical awareness of Indonesian students in Egypt is at a moderate level, while in understanding and responding to news related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict they are categorized as not yet critical. The values, attitudes, and knowledge of Indonesian students in Egypt regarding Middle Eastern geopolitics are positively correlated with their critical attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel’s Strategies Againts the BDS Movement

2026-06-29T20:20:20+07:00

This research discusses Israel's strategies to counter the narrative of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement between 2017 and 2019. Employing a descriptive qualitative method and drawing upon constructivism theory and the concept of narrative power, this study explores how Israel responded to the BDS narrative, which alleges human rights violations. The research highlights the implementation of anti-BDS laws within Israel, and intensive lobbying in the United States and the European Union, as well as efforts to deny entry and arrest BDS activists. The findings indicate that while Israel deployed various legal, diplomatic, and propaganda strategies to discredit the movement and associate it with antisemitism, these efforts faced significant challenges. Israel's repressive policies strengthened the BDS narrative regarding freedom of expression violations and the delegitimisation of Israel's democratic claims, fostering broader global solidarity and demonstrating the effectiveness of the BDS narrative in shaping international public opinion.

Turkey's Foreign Policy Against the Yekitiya Demokrat Party in Northern Syria (2016-2019)

2026-06-29T20:20:20+07:00

This research explores Turkey's strategic response to Kurdish armed groups, specifically the Partiya Yekitiya Demokrat (PYD) and its military faction, the Yekineyen Parastina Gel (YPG), operating near the Turkish-Syrian border. The Turkish government regards the PYD/YPG as the Syrian branch of the Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group in domestic insurgency. The conflict between Turkey and the Kurds has persisted for decades, with peace initiatives yet to materialize. Turkey is worried about the PYD/YPG's growing power in northern Syria, especially near the border with Turkey, because it could lead to expansion that threatens Turkish sovereignty and national security. In response, Turkey has launched a series of cross-border military operations to counter this expansion, such as Operation Euphrates Shield (2016), Operation Olive Branch (2017), and Operation Peace Spring (2019). This study uses the offensive neorealism theory to explain that Turkey's military actions are not only defensive but also strategic moves to establish regional dominance in the Middle East. This research adopts a qualitative descriptive methodology, aiming to describe and analyze PYD/YPG as a threat to Turkey and the Turkish government's policy response through military operations to protect its sovereignty and national security. Data collection techniques involve document analysis of prior studies and interviews with selected experts. The findings indicate that Turkey's military operations are primarily driven by national security threats, particularly due to PYD/YPG’s collaboration with the PKK and their repeated attacks on Turkish territory. In practice, the policy has succeeded in limiting the PYD/YPG’s territorial expansion, especially in autonomous Kurdish zones in northern Syria. Nevertheless, it has not fully resolved the root causes of the conflict between Turkey and Kurdish forces.