LSE Middle East Centre and Project on Middle East Political Science
Introduction
It is sometimes hard to remember that the Arab uprisings of 2010-11 promised the possibility of meaningful political change. The unprecedented outburst of popular mobilisation overthrew some regimes and unsettled most of the others. Those hopes have long since come crashing down. Egypt’s transition ended in a military coup, bloody repression, and a neo-authoritarianism legitimated through xenophobic populism. Tunisia’s survived, barely. Libya, Yemen and Syria have suffered near-complete political collapse, polarisation, and civil war. Almost every regime has become more intolerant and more repressive. Violent, extremist Islamist movements such as the Islamic State group have surged in this chaotic atmosphere.
How should we understand the authoritarian resurgence in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings? In October 2014, the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) and the LSE Middle East Centre jointly organised a workshop to dig more deeply into the causes, mechanisms, and drivers of the 'The Arab Thermidor'. More than a dozen scholars looked at specific sectors such as the military, police and intelligence services, different countries, and the broader regional environment. Some of the papers produced for that workshop have been published on the Monkey Cage and the MEC Blog, and all of them have today been released as 'POMEPS Studies 11 The Arab Thermidor: The Resurgence of the Security State|'. The papers in this collection offer a sharp, comprehensive and acute look at the resurgence and persistence of the Arab authoritarian state.
Contributions
Explaining democratic divergence,| Eva Bellin, Brandeis University
A historical sociology approach to authoritarian resilience in post-Arab Uprising MENA,| Raymond Hinnebusch, University of St Andrews
Mass politics and the future of authoritarian governance in the Arab world,| Steven Heydemann, United States Institute of Peace
Arab transitions and the old elite,| Ellis Goldberg, University of Washington
Fiscal politics of enduring authoritarianism,| Pete W. Moore, Case Western Reserve University
The role of militaries in the Arab Thermidor,| Robert Springborg, Sciences Po
Militaries, civilians and the crisis of the Arab state,| Yezid Sayigh, Carnegie Middle East Center
Authoritarian populism and the rise of the security state in Iran,| Ali M Ansari, University of St Andrews
Is Libya a proxy war?,| Frederic Wehrey, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Elite fragmentation and securitization in Bahrain,| Toby Matthiesen, University of Cambridge
Security dilemmas and the ‘security state’ question in Jordan,| Curtis R. Ryan, Appalachian State University
The authoritarian impulse vs. the democratic imperative,| John Entelis, Fordham University
The resurgence of police government in Egypt, Salwa Ismail, SOAS, University of London