Joseph massad on al jazeera said the term was part of a us strategy of controlling the movements aims and goals and directing it towards westernstyle liberal democracy. Our argumentation in not in favor of liberal democracy. The success of democratization in post arab spring societies. Should the democratic inadequacies and problems in the region be faced with despair. Democratization theory and the arab spring alfred stepan and juan j. Apr 22, 2016 according to freedom house, 12 of 18 countries in the region are more repressive today than they were before the arab spring, and these 12 countries dont include egypt and libya, which freedom house thinks have improved since 2010, gershman said during a session on the future of islam and democracy after the arab spring. Oct 16, 20 while perhaps no country can claim to be a perfect democracy, it is only the middle east that has stood out for being a vast area that is quite simply authoritarian even to this day. Between 1989 and 1995, many remnants of the soviet union and failed authoritarian regimes in other parts of the world turned themselves into variously functional electoral democracies. Esposito, john voll, and tamara sonn examine the state of democracy in muslimmajority societies today.
Digital media and the arab spring oxford scholarship. In fact, the arab spring had little to do with democracy. What does the arab spring imply for democratization theory. Demdigest april 22, 2016 january 30, 2019 the authoritarian backlash in the middle east, with the arab winter following the arab spring, is part of the global phenomenon of authoritarian resurgence that has gathered force over the last decade, national endowment for democracy president carl gershman. Africa and the arab spring executive summary a question often asked since the launch of the arab spring in january 2011 is what effect will these popular protests have on democracy in the rest of africa. The relationship between the quest for democracy and the prioritization of strong state relations between the u. Linz alfred stepan is wallace sayre professor of government and founding director of the center for the study of democracy, toleration, and religion at columbia university. The reality is that the arab spring was never the popular democratic revolt that western governments or the media made it out to be. Prior analysis of arab barometer results found that the arab spring. Democracy in the middle east and north africa wikipedia. Mar 29, 2019 the dream of democracy also proved fleeting in syria, where the peaceful pro democracy protesters were met with government opposition. Domestic and international rami cations, efraim inbar analysed the political, economic and strategic dimensions of the arab spring. The dream of democracy also proved fleeting in syria, where the peaceful prodemocracy protesters were met with government opposition. The expectation for democratization of the post arab spring societies are certainly not excluded, but, with a huge effort of the democratic powers that exist in those societies.
Religion, democracy and the dawla madaniyya of the arab spring. In december 2010, protests began against the autocratic government in the northern african country of tunisia. The measure of the level of democracy in nations throughout the world published by freedom house and various other freedom indices, the middle eastern and north african countries with the highest scores are israel. When it comes to politics, clear political factors emerge as important reasons for the uprising in the muslim world. But as a region, north africa and the middle east were noticeably devoid of popular democracy movementsuntil the early months of 2011. All kinds of forcespolitical islamists, ultranationalists and. Demonstrators expressing political and economic grievances faced violent crackdowns by. Islam and democracy after the arab spring democracy digest.
International journal of social sciences, iii1, 2014 the. In 2011, a mass protest in tunisia initiated what came to be called the arab spring. While perhaps no country can claim to be a perfect democracy, it is only the middle east that has stood out for being a vast area that is quite simply authoritarian even to this day. The fairly recent embrace of democracy by arab liberal thinkers is matched by an.
The middle east, democratization, and the arab spring. Arab spring research guide and notes sheet introduction. Jun 02, 2014 despite a succession of elections across the middle east since the arab uprisings, democracy is still far from being fully fledged, writes gerald butt. The common slogan of the protesters throughout arab spring was the people want to bring down the regime aissa, 2012. Foreign intervention in the 2011 arab spring was a pivotal moment during the libyan civil war. Frequently overlooked in this discussion is that subsaharan africa has been experiencing its own democratic surge during this time with. Pdf arab spring, revolutions, and the democratic values. Starting with tunisia in december of 2010, the citizens of egypt, libya, and iran all voiced dissatisfaction with their governing leaders within the same period. Social media and the arab spring sage publications. Promises and perils of the arab spring valentine m moghadam northeastern university, usa abstract the arab spring is still unfolding, as is the direction of change, and outcomes may be different for violent and nonviolent uprisings. But is the arab spring really a ray of hope for democratization. People still want democracy find, read and cite all the research you need. Examining bahrain, egypt, jordan, and saudi arabia demonstrates that political stability.
The arab spring was a series of prodemocracy uprisings that enveloped several largely muslim countries, including tunisia, morocco, syria, libya, egypt and. The future of islam and democracy after the arab spring. The arab spring was a phenomenon that shocked the international community. But their purpose, relative success, and outcome remain hotly disputed in arab countries, among foreign observers, and between world powers looking to cash in on the changing map of the middle east. In light of the arab spring, how should students of democratic transition rethink the relation. Hundreds of thousands of tunisians took to the streets calling for an end to authoritarian rule. The arab spring was a series of antigovernment protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the middle east in early 2011.
Political islam after the arab spring foreign affairs. Pdf religion, democracy and the dawla madaniyya of. Pdf on oct 15, 2015, michael robbins and others published after the arab spring. Political islam after the arab spring between jihad and democracy.
Aug 28, 2019 the arab spring was a series of antigovernment protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the middle east in early 2011. Apr 23, 2012 in his new book, hamid dabashi argues that the revolutionary uprisings across the middle east have finally put an end to postcolonialism, and that we must now reimagine the geopolitics of the region. In this article, we first reexamine the relationship between democracy and the twin tolerations in the worlds muslimmajority countries that are democraciesindonesia, turkey, senegal and tunisia, as well as in muslimminority india. It also set in motion other political struggles throughout the middle east and north africa mena region, before engulfing tunisia, egypt, bahrein, and yemen, and subsequently spreading to syria.
Democratization theory and the arab spring journal of democracy. In this article, we first reexamine the relationship between democracy and the twin tolerations in the worlds muslimmajority countries that are democraciesindonesia, turkey, senegal and. Pdf on may 11, 2015, mohd irwan syazli saidin and others published the arab spring and theories of democratization find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Pdf the arab spring and theories of democratization. A bumpy road ahead pdf by hassan hakimian, director of the london middle east institute and reader, economics department, soas underscores the underlying importance of the economic conditions facing the new republics, such as egypt and tunisia, which are emerging as a result of the arab spring. The expectation for democratization of the post arab spring societies are certainly not excluded, but, with a huge effort of the democratic. Apr 25, 2016 the center for the study of islam and democracy, april 21, 2016. And their night will then begin to fade, and their chains break and fall. The united states and the arab spring, eytan gilboa 4. Arab spring used their powers vehemently to crush the demonstrators and consequently the peaceful protesters also became violent.
It has been 15 years since the last wave of democratization. The arab spring demonstrated that public opinion can powerfully affect the regions political life. The roots and causes of the 2011 arab uprisings kamal eldin osman salih abstract. The united nation security council on the 11 th march 2011 passed on a resolution to implement a no fly zone. Did the arab uprisings represent a sustained demand or a short burst of desire for democracy.
Its important to note at the outset that the authoritarian backlash in the middle east, with the arab winter following the arab spring, is part of the global phenomenon of authoritarian. Popular protests for democracy in north africa and the middle east. Thi s researc h articl e attempts to scrutinize the nature and cause s of the ara b uprising s which too k people by surpris e globall y throughou t 2011 and int o 2012. The arab spring and israels domestic politicsforeign policy. Pdf the middle east and north africa mena have long been laden with tensions and instabilities. Ross even before this years arab uprisings, the middle east was not an undifferentiated block of authoritarianism. The arab spring refers to a revolutionary movement in north africa and the middle east that originated in tunisia in 2010. The arab spring was a series of pro democracy uprisings that enveloped several largely muslim countries, including tunisia, morocco, syria, libya, egypt and. Politics comes first gadi wolfsfeld 1, elad segev2, and tamir sheafer3 abstract the goal of this article is to place the role that social media plays in collective action within a more general theoretical structure, using the events of the arab spring as a case study.
The resolution implemented by nato was to prevent the harming of civilians in libya and to. In his new book, hamid dabashi argues that the revolutionary uprisings across the middle east have finally put an end to postcolonialism, and that. On yet another note, in the arab spring, democracy and security. In the aftermath of the iraq war, it was used by various commentators and bloggers who anticipated a major arab movement towards democratization. They also wanted more democracy, and end to corruption, and economic opportunity.
Its important to note at the outset that the authoritarian backlash in the middle east, with the arab winter following the arab spring, is part of the global phenomenon of authoritarian resurgence that has gathered force over the last decade. The center for the study of islam and democracy, april 21, 2016. Linz is sterling professor emeritus of political and social science at yale university. Incorporating elements of the faith and practice in islam to political decisionmaking is a goal and virtue of islamism. American foreign policy after the arab spring, by elliott abrams. Roots and causes of the arab uprisings there is a consensu s among politica l analysts regardin g the cocktai l of major factors that, when combined, created the socia l explosio n known as the 2011 arab uprisings. Despite a succession of elections across the middle east since the arab uprisings, democracy is still far from being fully fledged, writes gerald.
Arab spring, wave of prodemocracy protests and uprisings that took place in the middle east and north africa beginning in 2010, challenging some of the regions entrenched authoritarian regimes. The economist offers authoritative insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them. Democratization theory and the arab spring journal of. The problems of imperfect democratic regimes and choosing the path. The political causes of the arab spring the arab spring can be analysed in many ways. The landscape of the middle east has changed dramatically since 2011, as have the political arena and the discourse around democracy. The arab spring and israels domestic politicsforeign policy linkage, shmuel sandler 8. The popular revolts of the arab spring have left not democracy but a political vacuum in their wake. The economic implications of the arab spring, gil feiler 7. The citizens of countries with little or no oil, such as egypt, jordan, lebanon, morocco, and tunisia, generally had more freedom than. Islamists and the arab spring journal of democracy. The study of democratization and the arab spring general guide. The term arab spring is an allusion to the revolutions of 1848, which are sometimes referred to as the springtime of nations, and the prague spring in 1968. International law, dignity, democracy, and the arab spring.
Linz alfred stepan is wallace sayre professor of government and found ing director of. This essay considers the role that copts played in the arab spring revolution in egypt and the way in which the political changes of the time affected coptic interest repre sentation in the egyptian state. In islam and democracy after the arab spring, john l. Scholars have for decades devoted volumes looking into what has been quite a perplexing phenomenon. Pdf new media, democracy and the arab spring saimum. Arab spring, democratization, gender, feminist mobilization. Special attention is paid to the question of whether the arab spring falls into the framework of huntingtons theory, or whether it can be classified as a new fourth wave of democratization in countries that have unfavorable environments for democracy. After the syrian government killed and imprisoned arab spring. The arab spring and the struggle for democracy in egypt by. Arab spring economist world news, politics, economics. When arab spring protests in some countries were followed by electoral success for islamist parties, some american pundits coined the terms islamist spring and islamist.