Suchergebnisse

The article looks at the contributions of international actors to democratisation processes & reflects on the Arab world in a comparative light. It is argued that international actors can play a supportive role & that a global/regional climate or zeitgeist favouring democratisation can be a powerful stimulus for change. However, there are no "recipes" for success: interventions, ranging from sanctions to quiet diplomacy, are fraught with pitfalls & success often depends on the qualities of leadership, fortune, & other unpredictable factors. The Arab world presents special & particularly intractable challenges, due to the structure of the economies, the durability of authoritarian traditions, the problem posed by disloyal oppositions, & the absence of a favourable regional context. Adapted from the source document.

The insurgencies in Tunisia and Egypt seemed to offer great hope of the outbreak of democratic change in the Middle East and North Africa. However, the civil war in Libya and the ongoing crises in Yemen and Syria suggest that overall regional change may prove to be more difficult to achieve. The causes for the insurgency are similar but the outcomes differ because two of the states concerned were liberalizing autocracies and the third -- Libya -- had resolutely rejected any political or social competitors. Even the liberalized autocracies face very different futures for, in Tunisia a whole system has been removed whilst in Egypt, the regime rejected its figurehead in order to preserve the regime. Adapted from the source document.