The Arab Uprisings Explained: New Contentious Politics in the Middle East (Columbia Studies in Middle East Politics) - Tapa dura

This important volume addresses core questions about the origins, dynamics, and consequences of the Arab uprisings in a rigorous way that transcends headlines and quick, opinion-based analyses. -- Melani Cammett, author of Globalization and Business Politics in North Africa: A Comparative Perspective An outstanding volume on the Arab uprisings-one of the very best so far. The articles are thematic, covering key factors and actors at play as the uprisings continue to unfold. A well-informed, theoretically grounded collection. -- Shibley Telhami, author of The World Through Arab Eyes: Arab Public Opinion and the Reshaping of the Middle East This extremely useful and timely book directs the reader toward thematic and topical arguments that provide a broader understanding of the Arab uprisings. Expected topics such as diffusion, media, the military, and elections are joined by analyses of less examined themes like labor, political space, and banking systems. The treatments are sophisticated yet accessible. An excellent contribution to the most important questions facing scholars of Middle East politics. -- F. Gregory Gause, III, author of The International Relations of the Persian Gulf This theoretically sound volume is one of the better books about the still unfolding phenomenon of Arab uprisings. Academics, journalists, and policy makers will benefit from the well-informed analyses offered. Library Journal This valuable collection of essays provides a thoughtful treatment of one of the most important turning point in the history of the modern Middle East... an essential book for those who wish to step back and assess what happened to the Middle East. Survival Offering a comparative overview of key structural issues such as the role of the military and the independence of the private sector... [The Arab Uprisings Explained] provides the most useful basis for understanding the differences in post-uprising trajectories and the factors that have limited opportunities for democratic change. -- Jane Kinninmont International Affairs An impressively comprehensive volume that sheds valuable light on this unexpected upsurge of contention and its disappointing outcomes. -- Kurt Weyland Perspectives on Politics

Why did Tunisian protests following the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi lead to a massive wave of uprisings across the entire Arab world? Who participated in those protests, and what did they hope to achieve? Why did some leaders fall in the face of popular mobilization while others found ways to survive? And what have been the lasting results of the contentious politics of 2011 and 2012? The Arab uprisings pose stark challenges to the political science of the Middle East, which for decades had focused upon the resilience of entrenched authoritarianism, the relative weakness of civil society, and what seemed to be the largely contained diffusion of new norms and ideas through new information technologies. In this volume, leading scholars in the field take a sharp look at the causes, dynamics, and effects of the Arab uprisings. Compiled by one of the foremost experts on Middle East politics and society, The Arab Uprisings Explained offers a fresh rethinking of established theories and presents a new framework through which scholars and general readers can better grasp the fast-developing events remaking the region. These essays not only advance the study of political science in the Middle East but also integrate the subject seamlessly into the wider political science literature. Deeply committed to the study of this region and working out the kinks of the discipline, the contributors to this volume help scholars and policymakers across the world approach this unprecedented historical period smartly and effectively.