Zahra Albarazi The concept of nationality – because it determines who does and who does not belong – has very much been tied up with the larger geo-political factors that shape the region. Many of the legislative choices of states were first made during the early years as independent countries, or even during colonial times, and remain still valid today. In terms of acquiring nationality, ius sanguinis is the most prominent characteristic but there are other ways in which an individual can obtain nationality, through a territorial connection of some kind (such as long-term residence leading to eligibility for naturalisation – conditional upon meeting other criteria). The loss of nationality is also stipulated in all laws, and there is a recurrent trend of both groups and individuals being targeted in different contexts for deprivation of their nationality. There are also positive trends in the region, such as the universal safeguard against the statelessness of foundlings. Yet, an unfortunate and common practice is the prevalence of discrimination in the laws, on various grounds and including distinctions between naturalised and non-naturalised citizens. Interestingly, the regulation of acquisition and loss of citizenship in many of these countries have been quite flexible, with regular amendments and reforms, which opens the space to potential future improvement of some of the more regressive legislation. And of course, lastly, the implementation of these laws inevitably differs significantly across countries, a factor which should be taken into account in any discussion on nationality laws, especially given the absence of jurisdiction for the courts in nationality matters in the majority of MENA countries, coupled with the historic evidence of problems arising in the practice of inclusion and exclusion in the region. 20 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp. 2017/3- © 2017 Author(s)