Models of repression and revolt in autocracies: a specific point of view on the Arab Spring

2015 ◽

pp. 238-246

Author(s):

E. A. Antyukhova

Keyword(s):

Arab Spring ◽

Point Of View ◽

Political Regimes ◽

Distinctive Features ◽

Governmental Organizations ◽

Non Governmental Organizations ◽

The Government ◽

Real Picture ◽

The Arab Spring

The article explores the use of mechanisms in bringing down authoritarian political regimes in the Middle East and North Africa with the "Arab spring" in focus. The technique of "non-violent" methods of fight suggested by "godfather" of the "Arab spring" Gene Sharp is analyzed. It is noted that the distinctive features of his system were planned, determined and dynamic actions of protest forces. A special place in the article is devoted to the study of the role of non-governmental organizations in selecting and training protest leaders and activists and in creating a network of supporters of prodemocratic movements. The article examines the role of the Internet and cyber technologies used by the opposition during protest rallies. Non-violence as means of bringing down the existing power turned out to be an alternative to armed resistance. The key role of non-violent actions consisted in changing the point of view of anti-government forces, demonstrating that the public solidarity could make the regime overthrow possible. It is noted that the latest information means gave the process of political changes due activity and focus which was followed by the information actions designed to discredit the government in place and form the corresponding public opinion. Mediatization of politics promoted the creation of a dense information veil retouching a real picture. The overall system of methods used during the "the Arab spring" indicates that the mechanism of overthrowing authoritarian regimes and its technologies came from Western culture and were borrowed by Arab activists.

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Reflections on the Aftermath of the Arab Spring

American Journal of Islam and Society ◽

10.35632/ajis.v32i1.967 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 160-163

Author(s):

Jay Willoughby

Keyword(s):

Arab Spring ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Arab World ◽

Point Of View ◽

Street Vendor ◽

The People ◽

Majority Consensus ◽

The Masses ◽

The Mind ◽

The Arab Spring

On November 18, 2014, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, founder and board member,IIIT; leader of the Malaysian opposition; and former deputy prime ministerof Malaysia, shared his “Reflections on the Aftermath of the Arab Spring” withthe general public at the IIIT headquarters in Herndon, VA.He opened with “O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Apostleand those in authority from among you” (Q. 4:59), which he considers one ofthe Qur’an’s “most used and abused verses.” In addition to being used to supportdemocracy, it is abused by many others to demand the masses’ supportfor dictators, authoritarian, and military junta rule regardless of how they aretreated. This verse also highlights an issue that has rocked the Arab world eversince December 17, 2010, when Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi sethimself on fire to protest the continued abuse and harassment inflicted uponhim by the Tunisian police force: the issue of governmental legitimacy, whichis a problem in both the West and the Muslim world. Anwar stated that thegovernment must represent a majority consensus, respect some process (e.g.,democracy), and allow people the freedom of expression so that they can expresstheir support, disgust, or opposition.The Arabs’ demand for legitimate governance has been on the mind ofIIIT as well, for its leaders have spent the last decade addressing this concernfrom the point of view of the maqāṣid. Anwar traced this concern back to along-ago meeting when several of the IIIT founders were discussing why therewas no Muslim equivalent of the “Western canon,” the “Great Books,” a “greatintellectual tradition.” This was the start of an ongoing process to fill this gapin contemporary Muslim literature.The outbreak of Arab Spring clearly revealed that there is still a need todeal with ethics in governance, for lasting reform can only be actualized inthe form of systems. The ongoing abuse, corruption, repression, and brutalityinflicted upon the people by their own leaders is, according to him, something ...

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A SIMPLE MODEL OF REPRESSION AND REVOLT IN AUTOCRACIES APPLIED TO THE ARAB SPRING

International Game Theory Review ◽

10.1142/s0219198912400051 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 14 (04) ◽

pp. 1240005 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

MARIO GILLI

Keyword(s):

Arab Countries ◽

Point Of View ◽

Specific Point ◽

Political Processes ◽

Full Characterization ◽

True State ◽

Main Factors ◽

The Government ◽

The Arab Spring

The aim of this paper is to provide a specific point of view on the protests that have characterized the Arab countries from December 2010 and are still going on. To understand some of the reasons behind these events, I propose a sequential game with asymmetric information on the likelihood of having a successful uprising. This means that on one hand the government choices may signal the true state of nature and on the other hand the citizens' choices are a way to learn the truth. I assume specific parameters' values to obtain a full characterization of the set of equilibria. This allows to show the interaction of three main factors in determining the possible resulting political regimes: the country's wealth, the autocratic institutions and the general political mood. The complex interaction of these three variables explains why apparently heterogeneous countries may have similar political processes and apparently similar countries face different political situations.

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The Problems of Arab Solidarity and the Impact of Arab Spring on It: Study on the Model of the GCC Security

Journal of Politics and Law ◽

10.5539/jpl.v13n3p160 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 160

Author(s):

Salem Toubasi ◽

Ahmad Alzubaidi ◽

Mushir Abahra

Keyword(s):

Public Opinion ◽

Arab Spring ◽

Arab World ◽

Gulf Cooperation Council ◽

Arab Countries ◽

Point Of View ◽

History Of ◽

The Arab Spring ◽

The Impact ◽

Modern Perspective

The author presents a brief study of the Arab solidarity. Furthermore, From the point of view of the author the Arab cooperation is one of the most controversial topics in the Arab world, whereas this idea extends to the first history of the Arab countries, we can also mention the creation of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and then the Maghreb Union of Arab Countries. In this article, the topic of Arab solidarity will be presented, through the views of many thinkers, and based on many analytical researches of Arab public opinion, the view of Arab solidarity and analysis of many ideas put forward for this project. There are new positive ideas possibly can be implemented to achieve the Arab solidarity, which is still a very important project for a wide sector of Arabs, this analytical study will present the case of the Gulf Cooperation Council states as example of positive implementation of Arab solidarity. This article includes the results of Arab public opinion and shed the light on the Arab spring which affected many international and local events. The author asks if Arab solidarity will a real case in the future. This study will investigate these issues and provide the readers with a modern perspective on this topic, furthermore this research approaches this subject from three different areas of discussion: the realism approach, the functionalism approach, and the idealism approach.

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The European Union's Mediterranean Policy in the Context of the "Arab Spring"

MGIMO Review of International Relations ◽

10.24833/2071-8160-2014-2-35-139-149 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 139-149

Author(s):

V. A. Latkina

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Soft Power ◽

Arab Spring ◽

Point Of View ◽

The European Union ◽

Eu Foreign Policy ◽

Southern Mediterranean ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Arab Spring ◽

The Eu

The article discusses the policy of the European Union aimed at the export of its democratic values, acquis communautaire and governance models to the neighbour countries in the Southern Mediterranean. The process of Europeanization reflects a particular case of global megatrend -democratization which in its turn positioned as democracy promotion through soft power instruments. From the EU point of view the goal of the Barcelona process launched in 1995 was to construct Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and common identity in order to promote democratic transitions in Southern Mediterranean. While the EU Foreign Policy in the Mediterranean region was historically conditioned by the security interests of the European Union, it suffered from securitization/democratization dilemma. The article analyses the process of external Europeanization in the Southern Mediterranean as a regional dimension of global democratization process in the context of Union for the Mediterranean development before and after the Arab Spring and new approach in the framework of the ENP Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean. The article proposes that the lack of political strategic vision in the EU toward the Arab democratic transition during 2011-2013 narrows its role as a transformative democratic power, hinders Europeanization/ democratization process in the macro-region of North Africa and Middle East and presents the EU with a new dilemma - to continue its traditional democratization policy or to shift towards a more pragmatic approach to cooperating with new Arab regimes.

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‘For the tyrant shall be no more’: Reflections on and lessons from ‘The Arab Spring’ in North Africa, the Middle East and the Civil Rights and anti-apartheid struggles

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v67i3.1159 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 67 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Allan A. Boesak

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Civil Rights ◽

North Africa ◽

Arab Spring ◽

The United States ◽

Point Of View ◽

Revolutionary Change ◽

Black Liberation ◽

Historic Significance ◽

The Arab Spring

The revolutionary events sweeping North Africa and the Middle East, called the ‘Arab Spring’, are of great historic significance. They challenge not only political and social realities in those countries; they confront us, the spectators to these momentous events with serious questions about our own political, cultural and theological perceptions, concepts and prejudices. This article probes, from a Black Liberation theology point of view, these events at several levels: (1) what are the connections between the ‘Arab Spring’ and the two other historic movements for social change, the Civil Rights struggle in the United States of America, and the antiapartheid struggle in South Africa; (2) what lessons are to be learnt from these events?; (3) the article revisits the question of M.M. Thomas, in terms of whether God is at work in events of social upheaval and revolutionary change, and if so, ‘how?’; and (4) what is the meaning and consequences of international, and more importantly, inter-religious solidarity with the people of those regions? The article discusses the meaning, complexity and efficacy of nonviolence and choices for violence or nonviolence in such situations of conflict and the questions these raise for theological reflection, prophetic action and Christian integrity.

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