Beyond the Facade: Political Reform in the Arab World
Author: Marina Ottaway
Publisher: Carnegie Endowment
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 306
ISBN-13: 0870032771
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Of Empires and Citizens
Author: Amaney A. Jamal
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2012-09-09
Total Pages: 294
ISBN-13: 0691149658
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn the post-Cold War era, why has democratization been slow to arrive in the Arab world? This book argues that to understand support for the authoritarian status quo in parts of this region--and the willingness of its citizens to compromise on core democratic principles--one must factor in how a strong U.S. presence and popular anti-Americanism weakens democratic voices. Examining such countries as Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia, Amaney Jamal explores how Arab citizens decide whether to back existing regimes, regime transitions, and democratization projects, and how the global position of Arab states shapes people's attitudes toward their governments. While the Cold War's end reduced superpower hegemony in much of the developing world, the Arab region witnessed an increased security and economic dependence on the United States. As a result, the preferences of the United States matter greatly to middle-class Arab citizens, not just the elite, and citizens will restrain their pursuit of democratization, rationalizing their backing for the status quo because of U.S. geostrategic priorities. Demonstrating how the preferences of an international patron serve as a constraint or an opportunity to push for democracy, Jamal questions bottom-up approaches to democratization, which assume that states are autonomous units in the world order. Jamal contends that even now, with the overthrow of some autocratic Arab regimes, the future course of Arab democratization will be influenced by the perception of American reactions. Concurrently, the United States must address the troubling sources of the region's rising anti-Americanism.
Hybrid Forms of Peace
Author: Oliver P. Richmond
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2011-11-15
Total Pages: 426
ISBN-13: 0230354238
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book examines the role of everyday action in accepting, resisting and reshaping interventions, and the unique forms of peace that emerge from the interactions between local and international actors. Building on critiques of liberal peace-building, it redefines critical peace and conflict studies, based on new research from 16 countries.
Dreams and Shadows
Author: Robin Wright
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2008-02-28
Total Pages: 481
ISBN-13: 1101202769
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Wright has long been one of the best-informed American journalists covering the Middle East, and her reputation is born out here....Her book will be essential reading for anybody who wants to know where it is heading." -The New York Times Book Review The transformation of the Middle East is an issue that will absorb-and challenge-the world for generations to come. Dreams and Shadows is the book to read to understand the sweeping political and cultural changes that have occurred in recent decades. Drawing on thirty-five years of reporting in two dozen countries, including Israel, Palestine, Iran, Egypt, and Syria, through wars, revolutions, and uprisings as well as the birth of new democracy movements and a new generation of activists, award-winning journalist and Middle East expert Robin Wright has created a masterpiece of the reporter's art and a work of profound and enduring insight into one of the most confounding areas of the world.
Readings in European Security
Author: Michael Emerson
Publisher: CEPS
Published: 2009
Total Pages: 264
ISBN-13: 9290798289
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIntends to serve as a prism through which the EU's external relations and security can be assessed, with contributions from its US and Russian partners. This book contains working papers on a variety of topical strategic issues including the EU's role in the Middle East conflict, missile defense, recognition of Kosovo, and more.
Arabs and Israelis
Author: Abdel Monem Said Aly
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2022-07-07
Total Pages: 505
ISBN-13: 1350321419
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLasting over 120 years, the Arab-Israeli conflict involves divergent narratives about history, national identities, land ownership, injustices and victimhood. Domestic forces and actors as well as international and regional dynamics have ensured the conflict's durability. A distinguished team of authors comprising an Israeli, a Palestinian and an Egyptian present a broader Arab perspective in this innovative textbook that offers a balanced and nuanced introduction to a highly contentious subject. Providing an overview of key developments in the history of the conflict, it explores attempts at resolution, before going on to portray the perspectives of the important parties. It places the events of the conflict within a regional and international context, providing an invaluable insight into the opposing narratives behind the conflict. The much-anticipated second edition of Arabs and Israelis includes: - Up-to-date coverage of key developments since the Arab Awakening, including the shifting pattern in relations from Obama to Trump, the Abraham Accords, the fall of Netanyahu and the resurgence of the war in early 2021. - Brand new 'Key Developments', 'Key Documents' and 'Key Figures' feature boxes to help students zoom in on landmark events, policies and actors throughout history. - Detailed full colour maps, timelines and photos to visually complement the text. - A rich companion website including interactive timelines and maps, discussion questions, chapter summaries and more. A comprehensive and engaging account of the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is the ideal companion for students at undergraduate and postgraduate level taking History, Politics and Middle Eastern Studies degrees.
Requiem for the Phoenix
Author: Skip Allen
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2006-08
Total Pages: 476
ISBN-13: 0595403190
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Action-packed, well-woven reading . . . will leave readers wondering how safe they are in the post-9/11 era, and how much their government is really telling them." -Foreword /Clarion Review "The author delivers a . . . stirring thriller that relies on political maneuvering . . . just as much as action." -KIRKUS REVIEWS "Scheming politicians, spies, terrorists, and clandestine power brokers converge in . . . Requiem for the Phoenix." -Blueink Review Two years have passed since the Phoenix operation - al Qaida's secret attack on the American Heartland with a biological weapon of mass destruction. Since then, al Qaida has undergone an unexpected reversal. They broadcast a series of strange messages, offering - with one hand - an olive branch of peace to end terrorism and help support the U.S. president's worldwide democratic reforms. In al Qaida's other hand, however, is their secret plot to launch the second phase of the Phoenix operation - a series of attacks comprising their most devastating wave of terror since 9/11. As the suspense-filled plot unfolds across three continents, al Qaida stops at nothing to make America and the free world yield to their fanatical domination.
The European Union's Democratization Agenda in the Mediterranean
Author: Michelle Pace
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-09-13
Total Pages: 229
ISBN-13: 1317988620
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDemocracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a central pillar of the foreign policy the European Union (EU). Rather than concentrating on the relations between the incumbent authoritarian regimes and the opposition in the relevant countries, and on the degree to which these relations are affected by EU efforts at promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law (an outside-in approach), this collection of articles inverts the focus of such relationships and attempts to look at them ‘inside-out’. While some contributions also emphasise the ‘outside-in’ axis, given that this continues to be analytically rewarding, the overarching thrust of this book is to provide some empirical substance for the claim that EU policy making is not unidirectional and is influenced by the perceptions and actions of its ‘targets’. Thus, the focus is on domestic political changes on the ground in the MENA and how they link into what the EU is attempting to achieve in the region. Finally, the self-representation of the EU and its (lack of a) clear regional role is discussed. This book was published as a special issue of Democratization.
A Requiem for Peacebuilding?
Author: Jorg Kustermans
Publisher: Springer Nature
Published: 2020-12-01
Total Pages: 251
ISBN-13: 3030564770
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book assesses the claim that peacebuilding is a moribund international practice. Its contributors trace the origins of peacebuilding, bring back to memory its moments of triumph, and reflect on the reports of its decline. The story of peacebuilding parallels the broader story of liberalism’s rise and fall in world politics, including the attempt to remedy an ailing patient by administering a magic medicine – “the local turn”. Its contributors further write about what may come after peacebuilding as we still know it. They describe more locally rooted attempts at building peace and how they operate in the shadows of, and in an ambiguous relationship with, governmental and international peacebuilders. The book finally suggests that reports of the pending death of peacebuilding are probably premature. Peacebuilding is a resilient international practice, apt to adjust itself to a changing environment, and too important a source of legitimacy for those that wield power.
Foreign Aid in the Middle East
Author: Beáta Paragi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-02-28
Total Pages: 317
ISBN-13: 1786735806
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhat do we mean by 'gifts' in International Relations? Can foreign aid be conceptualized as a gift? Most foreign aid transactions are unilateral and financially unreciprocated, yet donors expect to benefit from them.Previous research dealing with foreign aid has analyzed the main donor motives and interests in providing financial support. This book offers an in-depth analysis of the invisible political or social 'exchange' taking place between recipient countries and donors when a grant agreement is signed. Focusing on Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Israel - the main beneficiaries of Western foreign aid – the book uses gift theories and theories of social exchange to show how international social bonds are shaped by foreign aid and in what ways recipient countries are obliged to return the 'gift' they receive. Foreign aid is a means of buying 'stability' or 'democracy' in the region but Beata Paragi is interested here to understand the actual feasibility of Western assistance. Looking at the context of the Arab Spring, the book examines how aid impacts on a recipient country's domestic political events such as war, the quest for self-determination, the struggle against occupation and the fight for dignity. An original contribution to Middle East Studies and International Relations, the research presents an alternative interpretation of foreign aid and show how external funds interact with local developments and realities.
