Peripheralities and Their Effects: A Cross-Regional Reflection on Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and North Africa

The contribution is a cross-regional dialog between researchers from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It explores ways in which the concept of peripherality—understood broadly both in economic and cultural sense—could help us grasp long-terms pattern of development in both regions. The dialog opens with Michaela Grančayová and Aliaksei Kazharski's note on CEE’s “transitive peripherality,” its—arguably incomplete—post-Communism transitions, the more recent rise of so-called “illiberalism,” and the persisting gaps with the Western European “core.” The response provided by Bizuneh Yimenu points out similarities and important differences between the two broadly understood regions, emphasizing key features like the lasting effects of colonialism, economic inequality, and the role of “developmental authoritarianism.” Ultimately, he concludes, much like in CEE, MENA’s experience of peripherality is best understood not as a static condition inherited from history but as a constantly negotiated political and social position.