Part I. Democratic peace, conflict prevention, and the United Nations. Part II. Secularization and democracy. Part III. National and regional experiences.
This volume analyzes the political, economic and strategic dimensions of the recent upheavals in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring. Mass demonstrations in many Arab states challenged the political status quo and the existing political and cultural system in the region. While it is too early to offer a definitive analysis of the impact of the widespread discontent in the Arab world, the trajectory of the events indicates regime change in several states, containment of political unrest in most states, increase in Islamic tendencies, centrifugal tendencies in a number of political units and deterioration of economic conditions. This volume presents an initial assessment by a selected group of Israeli scholars of the implications of the Arab Spring. The chapters focus on important issues such as democratization, the role of economic factors in political change and explanations for variations in regime stability in the Middle East. Taking an international relations perspective, the book not only examines the evolving regional balance, but also explores the link between external and internal politics and the implications of terrorism for regional security. The chapters also address the implications of the Arab Spring for Israel and its chances of existing peacefully in the region. This volume will be of much interest to students of Middle East politics, international security, foreign policy and international relations.
Exploring the political economy of development and democracy in the Middle East, this book provides new insight into the effects of external initiatives for the support of good governance in Arab states, the impact of transnational Islamist networks on democratization in the Middle East, and the role of new satellite broadcasting in the Arab world.
Liberation Technology brings together cutting-edge scholarship from scholars and practitioners at the forefront of this burgeoning field of study. An introductory section defines the debate with a foundational piece on liberation technology and is then followed by essays discussing the popular dichotomy of liberation'' versus "control" with regard to the Internet and the sociopolitical dimensions of such controls. Additional chapters delve into the cases of individual countries: China, Egypt, Iran, and Tunisia.
The book is framed with a view to discussing the politics of democratic transition by re-assessing power politics critically, and from an original angle. Specifically, this original angle examines the diverse attempts below the state level to carve out a space for democratic struggle in the Arab Middle East (AME). This space is hypothesized in this manuscript in terms of a democratic faragh or void (Sadiki, 2004) by relative state retreat/absence and society advancement/presence.
The United States faces no greater challenge today than successfully fulfilling its new ambition of helping bring about a democratic transformation of the Middle East. Uncharted Journey contributes a wealth of concise, illuminating insights on this subject, drawing on the contributors' deep knowledge of Arab politics and their substantial experience with democracy-building in other parts of the world. The essays in part one vividly dissect the state of Arab politics today, including an up-to-date examination of the political shock wave in the region produced by the invasion of Iraq. Part two and three set out a provocative exploration of the possible elements of a democracy promotion strategy for the region. The contributors identify potential false steps as well as a productive way forward, avoiding the twin shoals of either reflexive pessimism in the face of the daunting obstacles to Arab democratization or an unrealistic optimism that fails to take into account the region's political complexities. Contributors include Eva Bellin (Hunter College), Daniel Brumberg (Carnegie Endowment), Thomas Carothers (Carnegie Endowment), Michele Dunne (Georgetown University), Graham Fuller, Amy Hawthorne (Carnegie Endowment), Marina Ottaway (Carnegie Endowment), and Richard Youngs (Foreign Policy Centre).
"... this volume is a highly valuable contribution to our understanding of the relation between democracy and peace in the Middle East, as well as in international politics in general.... this book will continue to be of value and interest for some time to come." --The Historian "This book is a useful collection of essays on Middle East politics and international relations presented in a reader-friendly interdisciplinary fashion." --Israel Studies Bulletin "... this is an important collection of challenging papers." --Studies in Contemporary Jewry "... one of the first books that specifically focuses on the possible links between democracy and peace in the region. It is entertaining and highly useful." --MESA Bulletin What are the prospects for continued movement toward democracy in the Arab world, and what form is democracy likely to take? What impact will democratization have on war and peace in the Middle East? Scholars explore these issues in this timely book.
The continued prominence of Islam in the struggle for democracy in the Muslim world has confounded Western democracy theorists who largely consider secularism a prerequisite for democratic transitions. Kamran Bokhari and Farid Senzai offer a comprehensive view of the complex nature of contemporary political Islam and its relationship to democracy.
Investigating the political transition after the 2011 Tunisian revolution, this book explores whether civil society is fulfilling its democratic functions. Examining the existence of a civil political culture, that is identified through the presence of the six criteria of Freedom, Equality, Pluralism, Tolerance, Trust, and Transparency. The innovation of the volume lies in its critiques of the “transitology” literature, its illustration of the drawbacks of culturalist and Orientalist narratives of Arab politics, and the complexity it notes with respect to civil society and its varied roles, especially that civil society is not always an unconditionally “good” or democratic force. Using a combination of survey, interview, and observation research approaches, these chapters engage with the development of democratic political culture and democratic knowledge in civil society organisations (CSOs) by understanding how CSOs interact with the state, other CSOs, and their members. Presenting both critical theoretical arguments and extensive empirical evidence to demonstrate why Tunisia is such an important case, this book will be of interest to students and researchers interested in political culture, civil society, and Middle East and North African studies.
As the recent revolutions in the Middle East have demonstrated, civil society in this part of the world is on the move. The increasingly important role of non-state actors – a phenomenon of globalization- has characterized developments throughout the region, affecting the struggle for democracy and for peace. This volume brings together scholars primarily form the region to analyse the varied activities and contributions of NGOs, the private sector and the new media, from Morocco to Iran, along with the involvement of diaspora groups. The chapter on facebook in the recent Egyptian revolution captures the role of this new media while the study on similar technology in Iran outlines the barriers raised by the authorities in the current struggles there. Even the fledgling process of democratization in Saudi Arabia is driven by non-state actors while the veteran women's movements in the Maghreb serve as an example for the post-Arab spring era in those countries. Providing one of the first assessments of the role of non-state actors in the Middle East, this book will be essential reading for students of Political Science, Sociology and Civil Society, amongst others.