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Stephen J. King considers the reasons that international and domestic efforts toward democratization have failed to take hold in the Arab world. Focusing on Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, and Algeria, he suggests that a complex set of variables characterizes authoritarian rule and helps to explain both its dynamism and its persistence. King addresses, but moves beyond, how religion and the strongly patriarchal culture influence state structure, policy configuration, ruling coalitions, and legitimization and privatization strategies. He shows how the transformation of authoritarianism has taken place amid shifting social relations and political institutions and how these changes have affected the lives of millions. Ultimately, King's forward-thinking analysis offers a way to enhance the prospects for democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.

Dissects the Bush administration's failure to advance freedom in the Middle East. Lays out a strategy for committed U.S. promotion of democracy, arguing that only development of a more liberal and democratic politics in the Arab world can create a firmer foundation for Arab-American ties and secure U.S. long-term goals.

The European Union and the Arab Spring: Promoting Democracy and Human Rights in the Middle East, edited by Joel Peters, analyzes the response of the European Union to recent uprisings in the Middle East. The past year has witnessed a wave of popular uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East which the Western media dubbed “the Arab Spring.” Demanding greater freedoms, political reform, and human rights, the protesters swept away many of the region’s authoritarian autocratic regimes. The events of the Arab Spring have been truly historic. They led to profound changes in the domestic order of Middle Eastern states and societies and impacted the international politics of the region. Additionally, these events necessitate a comprehensive reappraisal by the United States and most notably by the EU in their relations with the states and peoples of the region. This timely collection brings together nine leading authorities on European foreign policy and the Middle East, and investigates three central questions: What role did the European Union play in promoting democracy and human rights in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East? How did the EU respond to the uprisings of the Arab street? What challenges is Europe now facing in its relations with the region? Peters’ The European Union and the Arab Spring is at the forefront of scholarship on this historic socio-political shift in the Middle East and its wider implications for the West.

Many residents of the Middle East - and more recently, Western powers - have placed great hope in democratization in the region. Yet authoritarianism remains the norm and movement towards democracy is both slow and uneven. The Struggle over Democracy in the Middle East examines democracy and democratization in the light of regional realities rather than the wishful thinking of outsiders. Specialists from the region analyze democratic prospects in the region, while accomplished scholars from the United States and the United Kingdom analyze Western policy, providing a wide-ranging survey of the efforts of individual countries and the effect of external influences. Addressing themes including sectarianism, culture, religion, security and the promotion of democracy, the book examines the experiences of activists, political parties, religious groups and governments and highlights the difficulties involved in bringing democracy to the Middle East. Providing a multifaceted approach to the issue of democratization, this book will be a valuable reference for courses on Middle Eastern politics, political science and democracy. 1. Introduction Nathan J. Brown and Emad El-Din Shahin Part 1: The View From Outside: External Efforts at Democracy Promotion 2. New Wine in Old Bottles? American Efforts to Promote Democracy in the Arab World Nathan J. Brown and Amy Hawthorne 3. Democracy and Security in the Middle East Richard Youngs 4. The Fantasy of Arab Democracy without a Constituency Walid Kazziha 5. Democracy and Faith: The Continuum of Political Islam Azza Karam Part 2: Country Studies 6. Transformations in Eastern Europe and Lessons for the Middle East Shlomo Avineri 7. Democratic Transformation in Egypt: Controlled Reforms … Frustrated Hopes Emad El-Din Shahin 8. The Myth of the Democratizing Monarchy Shadi Hamid 9. Democracy in Lebanon: The Primacy of the Sectarian System Bassel Salloukh 10. Democracy, Islam and Secularism in Turkey Ersin Kalaycioglu 11. Conclusion Nathan J. Brown and Emad El-Din Shahin Nathan J. Brown is a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University, where he is the director of the Institute for Middle East Studies. He also serves as a Non-resident Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Emad El-Din Shahin is a Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University; faculty affiliate at the Kennedy School of Government, the Dubai Initiative; and Associate Professor at the Political Science Department at the American University in Cairo.

Popular uprisings and revolts across the Arab Middle East have often resulted in a democratic faragh or void in power. How society seeks to fill that void, regardless of whether the regime falls or survives, is the common trajectory followed by the seven empirical case studies published here for the first time. This edited volume seeks to unpack the state of the democratic void in three interrelated fields: democracy, legitimacy and social relations. In doing so, the conventional treatment of democratization as a linear, formal, systemic and systematic process is challenged and the power politics of democratic transition reassessed. Through a close examination of case studies focusing on Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, this collection introduces the reader to indigenous narratives on how power is wrested and negotiated from the bottom up. It will be of interest to those seeking a fresh perspective on democratization models as well as those seeking to understand the reshaping of the Arab Middle East in the lead-up to the Arab Spring.

The Arab revolutions that began in Tunisia in early 2011 spread like wildfire through the region, shocking observers across the world who had thought that Arab societies were incapable of turning on their repressive regimes. As Jean-Piere Filiu shows in his concise yet sweeping account of the revolution's pivotal first stage, the revolts that began in Tunis and continue today in Syria have exposed the fallacy of Western pronouncements about Islamic societies' inability to incubate modern democratic movements. Stressing the deep historical roots of the events and organizing the book around 'ten lessons,' Filiu's authoritative command of the events in all their diversity shines through. Facebook-savvy youth from the urban middle class proved central in the relatively leaderless movement that drove events in Egypt, but disenfranchised youths from the wrong side of the tracks spearheaded the Tunisian revolution. Regardless of who led the revolution, ruling regimes that have managed to survive are attempting to adapt, whether through carrots or sticks. As we move forward, one of the most intriguing issues is the role that political Islam, particularly in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood, will play in evolving Arab societies. Will they embrace democracy and higher levels of tolerance, following a Turkish model? Recent events in Egypt suggest that this may be indeed be the case, which will undercut much of what Western commentators have said about the movement for decades. Interestingly, the main losers could well be the jihadi groups whose discourse and violence have been invalidated by the mass protests and their pluralist agendas. Regardless, even though the situation is still volatile, nothing will be the same again in the Arab world. Filiu's taut account of this major revolutionary movement points to what else might change, and at what cost.

This book explores how George W. Bush's Freedom Agenda for the Middle East and North Africa was conceived and implemented as an American national interest, from the Bush era right through to the initial stages of the Obama administration. It highlights how the crisis presented by September 11 2001 led to regime change in Afghanistan and Iraq, but more broadly how American policy towards the region had a softer imperial side, which drew on broader economic theories of democratisation and modernisation. The Freedom Agenda contained within it a prescribed method of combating terrorism, but also a method of engaging with and reforming the entire Middle East region more broadly, with many institutions seeking to use the opportunity to implement neo-liberal market logics in the region. Constructing America's Freedom Agenda for the Middle East highlights the particular understanding of \"freedom\" that underpins America's imperial project in the region; a project trapped between a policy of democratisation and domination. This book analyses the Freedom Agenda in significantly more depth than in available current literature and would be of interest to students and researchers of global politics and international foreign policy of recent years.

Middle East expert Reuel Marc Gerecht argues that the Middle East may actually be at the beginning of a momentous democratic wave whose convulsions could become the region's defining theme during Obama's presidency. He describes the powerful Middle Eastern democratic movements coming from both the left and right and argues that America must reassess democracy's supposed lack of a future in the region.