Civil resistance, especially in the form of massive peaceful demonstrations, was at the heart of the Arab Spring-the chain of events in the Middle East and North Africa that erupted in December 2010. It won some notable victories: popular movements helped to bring about the fall of authoritarian governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Yet these apparent triumphs of non-violent action were followed by disasters—wars in Syria, anarchy in Libya and Yemen,
reversion to authoritarian rule in Egypt, and counter-revolution backed by external intervention in Bahrain. Looming over these events was the enduring divide between the Sunni and Shi'a branches of Islam.
Why did so much go wrong? Was the problem the methods, leadership and aims of the popular movements, or the conditions of their societies? In this book, experts on these countries, and on the techniques of civil resistance, set the events in their historical, social and political contexts. They describe how governments and outside powers—including the US and EU—responded, how Arab monarchies in Jordan and Morocco undertook to introduce reforms to avert revolution, and why the Arab Spring
failed to spark a Palestinian one. They indicate how and why Tunisia remained, precariously, the country that experienced the most political change for the lowest cost in bloodshed.
This book provides a vivid illustrated account and rigorous scholarly analysis of the course and fate, the strengths and the weaknesses, of the Arab Spring. The authors draw clear and challenging conclusions from these tumultuous events. Above all, they show how civil resistance aiming at regime change is not enough: building the institutions and the trust necessary for reforms to be implemented and democracy to develop is a more difficult but equally crucial task.
Author(s): Adam Roberts, Michael J. Willis, Rory McCarthy, Timothy Garton Ash
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 355
City: Oxford
Halftitle page
Title page
Copyright page
PrefaceThe Editors
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Illustrations
Table
List of Contributors
1. The Background to Civil Resistance in the Middle East
The Myth of Arab Exceptionalism
A Brief History of Middle Eastern Non-Violence
Demography, Unemployment, New Media
A Deeper Cultural History of Non-Violence
Non-Violence: The Rule and The Exception
Conclusion
2. Revolt for Dignity: Tunisia’s Revolution and Civil Resistance
A Tradition of Peace?
Revolt in The Rural Interior
Centrality of Trades Unions: The Ugtt
The Revolution Comes to Town: Working and Middle-Class Responses
The Absence of The Political Parties
The Failure of The Algerian Example
Social Media: Thank You Facebook?
An Organic Revolution?
The Collapse of The Regime: The Failure Of Power Politics?
The Quest For Dignity
3. Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution
Origins of The Revolution
The Eighteen Days of Demonstrations
Post-Mubarak: The Scaf and The Brotherhood
The 2013 Coup and Its Aftermath
The Relentlessness of the ‘Deep State’
Political Perspectives
Geopolitical Factors
Historical Reflections
Conclusion
4. Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Bahrain
Events of Late February and Early March 2011
The Lead-Up to The Protests: Bahrain’s Political Scene
Beyond March 2011: Retribution
Media and Social Media
Growing Unrest: Demonstrations Continue
Reform and The Elusive Dialogue
Conclusion
5. Civil Resistance in Libya during the Arab Spring
Civil Resistance and Disobedience Before 2011
The Struggle for A Political Alternative
The Fragmentation of The New State
The Reasons for Failure
6. The Change Squares of Yemen: Civil Resistance in an Unlikely Context
Civil Resistance in Yemen Prior to The 1960s
The Yemen Arab Republic and The People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen: the 1970s And 1980s
Yemeni Unification and The Rise of Civil and Citizen Initiatives: Precursors to The Large-Scale Uprisings
The Southern Military Retirees, Peaceful Demonstrations, and The Emergence of The Southern Separatist Movement
The 2011 Mass Uprisings: Change Squares
The National Dialogue Conference and The Rise of The Huthis
Characteristics of The Peaceful Movement For Change
Conclusion
7. Hirak! Civil Resistance and the Jordan Spring
Before the Spring: Rebellion and Resistance in Jordan
Beginnings: From Dhiban to Amman
Touching the ‘Red Lines’
De-Centring Protest: Vertical and Horizontal Expansion
Buying Time and Killing Momentum
Civil Resistance Between the Transnational and the Subnational
Habbat Tishreen
Success or Failure? Assessing the Hirak
8. Morocco: Obedience, Civil Resistance, and Dispersed Solidarities
The Political Culture of Obedience in Morocco
Civil Resistance: A Historical Overview
Human-Rights Activism and The Role of Civil Society Actors
The Women’s Movement
Cultural Rights: The Amazigh Movement
Subaltern Politics and The February 20 Movement
Conclusion
9. Civil Resistance in the Syrian Uprising: From Peaceful Protest to Sectarian Civil War
Upgrading The Non-Violent Resistance Paradigm
Civil Resistance to Authoritarian Rule in Syria
From Failed Democratic Transition to Civil War: What Went Wrong?
Dissecting the Turn to Sectarian Civil War
The Internationalization of the Conflict
Non-Violent Resistance Between Regime and Islamic State
Conclusion
10. Palestine and the Arab Uprisings
A short History of Palestinian CIVIL Resistance
Patterns of People Power
Protest in the Wake of The Arab Uprisings
Why was There No ‘Palestinian Spring’?
Just A Matter of Time
11. Civil Resistance and the Fate of the Arab Spring
Unity and Diversity
Power Politics: The Effects on Outcomes
Difficulties of Changing A Constitutional Order
A Challenge to Advocates of Political Violence
Revivals of Authoritarianism
Lessons For Civil Resistance
Index
