Limit results to available items
Record:   Prev Next
more Information
Title More freedom, less terror? : liberalization and political violence in the Arab world / Dalia Dassa Kaye [and others].
Publisher Santa Monica, CA : RAND Corporation, [2008]
Copyright ©2008
©2008
book jacket
Description 1 online resource (xxx, 195 pages) : color illustrations
Notes Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-195).
Contents Preface -- Figures -- Table -- Summary -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- "Democracy" and terrorism in the Arab world: a framework for analysis -- Introduction -- Democracy in the Middle East: "liberalized autocracies" or genuine democratization? -- Understanding terrorism -- The democracy-terrorism debate -- Post 9/11 "draining the swamp" logic -- The democracy backlash -- Democracy-terrorism hypotheses -- Empirical application to the Arab world: case selection and methods -- Egypt -- Introduction -- Liberalization in the Mubarak era -- Trends in violent activity -- Comparing levels of freedom and terrorism -- Assessing effects -- Repression and destabilization -- Conclusion -- Jordan -- Liberalization trends -- Trends in violent activity -- Comparing levels of freedom and terrorism -- Assessing effects -- Normative effects -- Institutional effects -- Legitimacy -- Conclusion -- Bahrain -- Introduction -- Liberalization trends -- Trends in violent activity -- Comparing levels of freedom and terrorism -- Assessing effects -- Perceptions of regime legitimacy -- Norms of tolerance and pluralism -- Institutional logic -- Conclusions and implications -- Saudi Arabia -- Introduction -- Liberalization trends -- Trends in violent activity -- Comparing levels of freedom and terrorism -- Assessing effects -- Regime legitimacy -- Normative and institutional effects: the municipal council elections -- Conclusion -- Algeria -- Trends in liberalization -- Trends in violent activity -- Comparing levels of freedom and terrorism -- Assessing effects -- Institutional effects -- Normative effects -- The effects of state actions on perceptions of regime legitimacy -- Summary and implications -- Morocco -- Introduction -- Trends in liberalization -- Trends in violent activity -- Comparing levels of freedom and terrorism -- Assessing effects -- Institutional effects -- Normative effects -- Legitimacy -- Conclusion -- Conclusion -- Liberalization in the Arab world can both contain and exacerbate political violence -- Policy implications: a return to realism or realistic democracy promotion? -- Policy recommendations -- Bibliography.
File Type Electronic book.
Notes Print version record.
Summary In the wake of September 11 through the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a key tenet of U.S. foreign policy has been that promoting democracy in the Arab world is an important strategy in reducing terrorism; at the same time, some policymakers and analysts have held that democracy has nothing to do with terrorism -- or even that the growth of democracy in the Middle East may exacerbate political violence. However, scant empirical evidence links democracy to terrorism, positively or negatively. This study examines whether such links exist by exploring the effects of liberalization processes on political violence in Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco from 1991 to 2006. Drawing on data on the incidence of terrorist violence, extensive fieldwork and interviews in each of the six countries, and primary and secondary literature from and about each country, Kaye and others find that political reforms have, in some instances, helped to marginalize and undercut extremist actors, but that these effects tend to be short-lived if reforms fail to produce tangible results. Moreover, when regimes backtrack on even limited openings, the risks of instability and violence increase.
Access JSTOR Open Access.
Subject Democratization -- Arab countries -- Case studies.
Political violence -- Arab countries -- Case studies.
Arab countries -- Politics and government.
Terrorism -- Arab countries.
Alternate Author Kaye, Dalia Dassa.
ISBN 9780833046451
0833046454
1282033301
9781282033306
9780833045089
0833045083
Isn 9786612033308
Call Number JQ1850.A91 M67 2008eb
Record:   Prev Next