The Arab Revolts: Dispatches on Militant Democracy in the Middle East

Edited by David McMurray and Amanda Ufheil-Somers

Available from Indiana University Press and Amazon.

The 2011 eruptions of popular discontent across the Arab world, popularly dubbed the Arab Spring, were local manifestations of a regional mass movement for democracy, freedom, and human dignity. Authoritarian regimes were either overthrown or put on notice that the old ways of oppressing their subjects would no longer be tolerated.

These essays from Middle East Report cover events in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen. Written for a broad audience of students, policymakers, media analysts, and general readers, the collection reveals the underlying causes of the revolts by identifying key trends during the last two decades leading up to the recent insurrections.

“This is easily the best volume on the Arab uprisings yet published. The material is very strong and accessibly written, providing rich background on the political and economic contexts in the region prior to the uprisings as well as after the events of 2011 unfolded, based on substantive knowledge. . . .Ideal for students, policymakers, and general readers.” —Jillian Schwedler, University of Massachusetts

Introduction - David McMurray and Amanda Ufheil-Somers

I. Tunisia
1. Tunisia's Wall Has Fallen - Nadia Marzouki
2. Tunisia's Post-Ben Ali Challenge: A Primer - Amy Aisen Kallander
3. Authoritarianism and Civil Society in Tunisia: Back from the Democratic Brink - Christopher Alexander
4. Structural Adjustment and Rural Poverty in Tunisia - Stephen Juan King
5. The Making of North Africa's Intifadas - Laryssa Chomiak and John P. Entelis
6. Beyond Ghannouchi: Social Change and Islamism in Tunisia - Francesco Cavatorta and Rikke Hostrup Haugbolle

II. Egypt
7. The Praxis of the Egyptian Revolution - Mona El-Ghobashy
8. Worlds Apart: An Egyptian Village and the International Tourism Industry - Timothy Mitchell
9. Strikes in Egypt Spread from Center of Gravity - Joel Beinin and Hossam El-Hamalawy
10. Striking Back at Egyptian Workers - Hesham Sallam
11. Sightings of the Egyptian Deep State - Issandr El Amrani
12. Egypt’s Generals and Transnational Capital - Shana Marshall and Joshua Stacher

III. Yemen
13. No Exit: Yemen’s Existential Crisis - Sheila Carapico
14. The Economic Dimension of Yemeni Unity -Sheila Carapico
15. Cracks in the Yemeni System - Sarah Phillips
16. The Snake with a Thousand Heads: The Southern Cause in Yemen - Susanne Dahlgren
17. Tawakkul Karman as Cause and Effect - Stacey Philbrick Yadav

IV. Syria
18. Asad’s Lost Chances - Carsten Wieland
19. The Resilience of the Syrian Regime - Bassam Haddad
20. The Evolution of Kurdish Politics in Syria - Christian Sinclair and Sirwan Kajjo
21. Dramas of the Authoritarian State - Donatella Della Ratta
22. Beyond the Fall of the Syrian Regime - Peter Harling and Sarah Birke

V: Bahrain
23. A Revolution Paused in Bahrain - Cortni Kerr and Toby Jones
24. Bahrain’s Crisis Worsens - Joe Stork
25. The Battle Over Family Law in Bahrain - Sandy Russell Jones
26. Bahrain’s Sunni Awakening - Justin Gengler
27. In the Kingdom of Teargas - Gregg Carlstrom