A critical review of the state-of-the-art on social policy, conflict and peace in the Middle East and North Africa region: Why social policy matters for peace and why it is also not enough

This article critically examines of the current state of knowledge on the conceptual and operational intersections between social policy and peace using a comprehensive desk-based review of the literature in the MENA region. Situating itself within the conceptual framework of positive peace, the paper critically assesses the role of social policy in a diversifying landscape of compounding risks, exacerbated by global climate change, environmental degradation, structural inequality, and state fragility, which negatively affect peace.