Curtis R. Ryan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033075
- eISBN:
- 9780813039558
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033075.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
There is a method to the apparent madness of Arab politics. In a region where friends can become enemies and enemies become friends seemingly at the drop of the hat, this book argues that there is ...
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There is a method to the apparent madness of Arab politics. In a region where friends can become enemies and enemies become friends seemingly at the drop of the hat, this book argues that there is logic to be found. Through fourteen years of field research and interviews with key policy makers, the author examines the remarkably stable Jordan as a microcosm of the region's politics. He traces the last four decades of Jordanian foreign policy in an attempt to better understand what seems like chaos. What he finds is an approach that is fundamentally different from alliances made in the West, in both how and why they are made. With governmental change and upheaval occurring on a seemingly regular basis, Arab nations approach diplomacy with much different means and potential ends. The impact of this diplomacy is arguably the most immediate in the world today, as conflict with words and conflict with weapons are sometimes separated by mere days. The topic of international relations in the Arab world is as complex as it is important. This book gives the reader the theoretical background, and shows its direct applicability through the foreign policy of Jordan.Less
There is a method to the apparent madness of Arab politics. In a region where friends can become enemies and enemies become friends seemingly at the drop of the hat, this book argues that there is logic to be found. Through fourteen years of field research and interviews with key policy makers, the author examines the remarkably stable Jordan as a microcosm of the region's politics. He traces the last four decades of Jordanian foreign policy in an attempt to better understand what seems like chaos. What he finds is an approach that is fundamentally different from alliances made in the West, in both how and why they are made. With governmental change and upheaval occurring on a seemingly regular basis, Arab nations approach diplomacy with much different means and potential ends. The impact of this diplomacy is arguably the most immediate in the world today, as conflict with words and conflict with weapons are sometimes separated by mere days. The topic of international relations in the Arab world is as complex as it is important. This book gives the reader the theoretical background, and shows its direct applicability through the foreign policy of Jordan.
Margaret Litvin
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691137803
- eISBN:
- 9781400840106
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691137803.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This introductory chapter summarizes the journey of Shakespeare's Hamlet through the post-1952 Arab world and discusses this study's contributions to Arab politics and literary studies in general. ...
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This introductory chapter summarizes the journey of Shakespeare's Hamlet through the post-1952 Arab world and discusses this study's contributions to Arab politics and literary studies in general. Here, the chapter shows how the character Hamlet's central concern is the problem of historical agency. He asks what it means “to be” rather than “not to be” in a world where “the time is out of joint” and one's very existence as a historical actor is threatened. He thus encapsulates a debate coeval with and largely constitutive of modern Arab identity: the problem of self-determination and authenticity. Following Hamlet's Arab journey, the chapter attempts to clarify one of the most central and widely misunderstood preoccupations of modern Arab politics.Less
This introductory chapter summarizes the journey of Shakespeare's Hamlet through the post-1952 Arab world and discusses this study's contributions to Arab politics and literary studies in general. Here, the chapter shows how the character Hamlet's central concern is the problem of historical agency. He asks what it means “to be” rather than “not to be” in a world where “the time is out of joint” and one's very existence as a historical actor is threatened. He thus encapsulates a debate coeval with and largely constitutive of modern Arab identity: the problem of self-determination and authenticity. Following Hamlet's Arab journey, the chapter attempts to clarify one of the most central and widely misunderstood preoccupations of modern Arab politics.
Margaret Litvin
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691137803
- eISBN:
- 9781400840106
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691137803.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
For the past five decades, Arab intellectuals have seen themselves in Shakespeare's Hamlet: their times “out of joint,” their political hopes frustrated by a corrupt older generation. This book ...
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For the past five decades, Arab intellectuals have seen themselves in Shakespeare's Hamlet: their times “out of joint,” their political hopes frustrated by a corrupt older generation. This book traces the uses of Hamlet in Arabic theatre and political rhetoric, and asks how Shakespeare's play developed into a musical with a happy ending in 1901 and grew to become the most obsessively quoted literary work in Arab politics today. Explaining the Arab Hamlet tradition, the book also illuminates the “to be or not to be” politics that have turned Shakespeare's tragedy into the essential Arab political text, cited by Arab liberals, nationalists, and Islamists alike. On the Arab stage, Hamlet has been an operetta hero, a firebrand revolutionary, and a muzzled dissident. Analyzing productions from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait, the book follows the distinct phases of Hamlet's naturalization as an Arab. The book uses personal interviews as well as scripts and videos, reviews, and detailed comparisons with French and Russian Hamlets. The result shows Arab theatre in a new light. It identifies the French source of the earliest Arabic Hamlet, shows the outsize influence of Soviet and East European Shakespeare, and explores the deep cultural link between Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and the ghost of Hamlet's father. Documenting how global sources and models helped nurture a distinct Arab Hamlet tradition, this book represents a new approach to the study of international Shakespeare appropriation.Less
For the past five decades, Arab intellectuals have seen themselves in Shakespeare's Hamlet: their times “out of joint,” their political hopes frustrated by a corrupt older generation. This book traces the uses of Hamlet in Arabic theatre and political rhetoric, and asks how Shakespeare's play developed into a musical with a happy ending in 1901 and grew to become the most obsessively quoted literary work in Arab politics today. Explaining the Arab Hamlet tradition, the book also illuminates the “to be or not to be” politics that have turned Shakespeare's tragedy into the essential Arab political text, cited by Arab liberals, nationalists, and Islamists alike. On the Arab stage, Hamlet has been an operetta hero, a firebrand revolutionary, and a muzzled dissident. Analyzing productions from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait, the book follows the distinct phases of Hamlet's naturalization as an Arab. The book uses personal interviews as well as scripts and videos, reviews, and detailed comparisons with French and Russian Hamlets. The result shows Arab theatre in a new light. It identifies the French source of the earliest Arabic Hamlet, shows the outsize influence of Soviet and East European Shakespeare, and explores the deep cultural link between Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and the ghost of Hamlet's father. Documenting how global sources and models helped nurture a distinct Arab Hamlet tradition, this book represents a new approach to the study of international Shakespeare appropriation.
Margaret Litvin
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691137803
- eISBN:
- 9781400840106
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691137803.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This concluding chapter reveals a recent convergence between the political concerns of Anglo-American intellectuals and their Arab counterparts. For many Anglo-American intellectuals, recent events ...
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This concluding chapter reveals a recent convergence between the political concerns of Anglo-American intellectuals and their Arab counterparts. For many Anglo-American intellectuals, recent events have thrust the Arab and Muslim worlds into focus, for better or worse, particularly in their experience of modern Arab politics: the feeling of being ruled rather than represented by one's own government. The chapter thus looks at the applications of political theatre today and how Hamlet is, once again, finding his way onto the modern Arab stage. Amid this discussion of Hamlet and twenty-first-century politics, the chapter also considers whether or not there will continue to be a distinct Arab Hamlet tradition.Less
This concluding chapter reveals a recent convergence between the political concerns of Anglo-American intellectuals and their Arab counterparts. For many Anglo-American intellectuals, recent events have thrust the Arab and Muslim worlds into focus, for better or worse, particularly in their experience of modern Arab politics: the feeling of being ruled rather than represented by one's own government. The chapter thus looks at the applications of political theatre today and how Hamlet is, once again, finding his way onto the modern Arab stage. Amid this discussion of Hamlet and twenty-first-century politics, the chapter also considers whether or not there will continue to be a distinct Arab Hamlet tradition.
Curtis R. Ryan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033075
- eISBN:
- 9780813039558
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033075.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter examines the two key dynamics of inter-Arab politics, which are political economy and ideology. It analyzes how both ideological considerations and economic interests influence the ...
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This chapter examines the two key dynamics of inter-Arab politics, which are political economy and ideology. It analyzes how both ideological considerations and economic interests influence the foreign policies and alliance choices of Arab states. It suggests that despite the pervasiveness of ideology in Middle East politics, alignments and realignments in inter-Arab politics are determined far more by elite perceptions of threats to regime security than they are by ideological concerns.Less
This chapter examines the two key dynamics of inter-Arab politics, which are political economy and ideology. It analyzes how both ideological considerations and economic interests influence the foreign policies and alliance choices of Arab states. It suggests that despite the pervasiveness of ideology in Middle East politics, alignments and realignments in inter-Arab politics are determined far more by elite perceptions of threats to regime security than they are by ideological concerns.
Curtis R. Ryan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033075
- eISBN:
- 9780813039558
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033075.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter examines international alliances, regime security and inter-Arab politics. It proposes the regime security perspective as an alternative to the Neorealist approach to alignment and ...
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This chapter examines international alliances, regime security and inter-Arab politics. It proposes the regime security perspective as an alternative to the Neorealist approach to alignment and alliance politics. It explains that this alternative approach emphasizes the different empirical realities faced by states in the Arab Middle East and throughout the developing world. It re-evaluates the key aspects of international relations theory in the Third World and suggests that alignments for post-colonial states are far more than simply deterministic responses to systemic security stimuli.Less
This chapter examines international alliances, regime security and inter-Arab politics. It proposes the regime security perspective as an alternative to the Neorealist approach to alignment and alliance politics. It explains that this alternative approach emphasizes the different empirical realities faced by states in the Arab Middle East and throughout the developing world. It re-evaluates the key aspects of international relations theory in the Third World and suggests that alignments for post-colonial states are far more than simply deterministic responses to systemic security stimuli.
Curtis R. Ryan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033075
- eISBN:
- 9780813039558
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033075.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter examines the security dilemmas involved in Arab politics. It explains that security dilemma refers to an external dynamic of arms racing and spiralling regional insecurity and suggests ...
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This chapter examines the security dilemmas involved in Arab politics. It explains that security dilemma refers to an external dynamic of arms racing and spiralling regional insecurity and suggests that Arab states face two specific security dilemmas. The analysis reveals that the traditional focus on security as limited only to external military concerns is dubious at best for the Arab states system and perhaps well beyond given the fact that there is more than one security dilemma at work.Less
This chapter examines the security dilemmas involved in Arab politics. It explains that security dilemma refers to an external dynamic of arms racing and spiralling regional insecurity and suggests that Arab states face two specific security dilemmas. The analysis reveals that the traditional focus on security as limited only to external military concerns is dubious at best for the Arab states system and perhaps well beyond given the fact that there is more than one security dilemma at work.
Hillel Cohen and Haim Watzman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520252219
- eISBN:
- 9780520933989
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520252219.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
The first signs of Palestinian Arab political reorganization appeared at the end of 1943. Independent leaders reestablished the Nation's Fund, operating in three channels: propaganda against selling ...
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The first signs of Palestinian Arab political reorganization appeared at the end of 1943. Independent leaders reestablished the Nation's Fund, operating in three channels: propaganda against selling land to Jews, rescuing land that was in danger, and direct action against sellers. On the eve of the 1948 war, the Palestinian national institutions were unable to unite the country's Arabs. They were vulnerable to intelligence penetration by the Zionists, whom each faction and leader helped in his own way in order to harm his opponents. Many Arabs continued to maintain social and economic ties with Jews in violation of the Higher Arab Committee's instructions. Zionist intelligence recruitment was becoming more and more sophisticated. And the Arabs of Palestine were facing a war that commenced immediately after their leadership announced its rejection of the UN General Assembly decision to partition Palestine into two countries.Less
The first signs of Palestinian Arab political reorganization appeared at the end of 1943. Independent leaders reestablished the Nation's Fund, operating in three channels: propaganda against selling land to Jews, rescuing land that was in danger, and direct action against sellers. On the eve of the 1948 war, the Palestinian national institutions were unable to unite the country's Arabs. They were vulnerable to intelligence penetration by the Zionists, whom each faction and leader helped in his own way in order to harm his opponents. Many Arabs continued to maintain social and economic ties with Jews in violation of the Higher Arab Committee's instructions. Zionist intelligence recruitment was becoming more and more sophisticated. And the Arabs of Palestine were facing a war that commenced immediately after their leadership announced its rejection of the UN General Assembly decision to partition Palestine into two countries.
Raymond Hinnebusch
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719053450
- eISBN:
- 9781781700204
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719053450.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter notes that the incongruity of identity and territory continues to destabilise the politics of the Middle East and to significantly qualify the Westphalian model. While Arab states have ...
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This chapter notes that the incongruity of identity and territory continues to destabilise the politics of the Middle East and to significantly qualify the Westphalian model. While Arab states have consolidated their sovereignty in the face of supra-state ideology, in the making of foreign policy, legitimacy requires their leaders must still balance between the two. Inter-Arab politics arguably remains qualitatively different from ‘international’ politics. Irredentist conflicts continue to bedevil two near-nation-states, Turkey and Israel. Meanwhile, Iran embraces its communal mosaic and projects its foreign policy under an Islamic banner.Less
This chapter notes that the incongruity of identity and territory continues to destabilise the politics of the Middle East and to significantly qualify the Westphalian model. While Arab states have consolidated their sovereignty in the face of supra-state ideology, in the making of foreign policy, legitimacy requires their leaders must still balance between the two. Inter-Arab politics arguably remains qualitatively different from ‘international’ politics. Irredentist conflicts continue to bedevil two near-nation-states, Turkey and Israel. Meanwhile, Iran embraces its communal mosaic and projects its foreign policy under an Islamic banner.
Curtis R. Ryan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033075
- eISBN:
- 9780813039558
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033075.003.0008
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter describes a case study concerning the role of Jordan in the rise and fall of the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC). It suggests that Jordan may have been inspired by its successful alliance ...
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This chapter describes a case study concerning the role of Jordan in the rise and fall of the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC). It suggests that Jordan may have been inspired by its successful alliance with Iraq to create a multilateral political, economic, and security bloc within Arab politics in the form of ACC. This multilateral alliance, which also included Yemen and Egypt, achieved real economic integration and political cooperation before its collapse in 1990.Less
This chapter describes a case study concerning the role of Jordan in the rise and fall of the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC). It suggests that Jordan may have been inspired by its successful alliance with Iraq to create a multilateral political, economic, and security bloc within Arab politics in the form of ACC. This multilateral alliance, which also included Yemen and Egypt, achieved real economic integration and political cooperation before its collapse in 1990.
Shibley Telhami
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199796281
- eISBN:
- 9780190252588
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199796281.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, American Politics
This chapter examines records of conversations between Saddam Hussein and his closest aides to understand why he believed that he could get away with invading Kuwait. Evidence suggests that Hussein ...
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This chapter examines records of conversations between Saddam Hussein and his closest aides to understand why he believed that he could get away with invading Kuwait. Evidence suggests that Hussein was less sensitive to the signals sent by the US prior to his invasion. While the US may have been able to send a stronger signal against invasion, Hussein's sensitivity to that signal would have been uncertain. A tougher US position prior to the invasion may have also played into Hussein's hand and helped him rally Arab public opinion against the US. The game for him centered, above all else, on Arab politics, and his miscalculations pertained more to Arab politics and public opinion than to American intentions.Less
This chapter examines records of conversations between Saddam Hussein and his closest aides to understand why he believed that he could get away with invading Kuwait. Evidence suggests that Hussein was less sensitive to the signals sent by the US prior to his invasion. While the US may have been able to send a stronger signal against invasion, Hussein's sensitivity to that signal would have been uncertain. A tougher US position prior to the invasion may have also played into Hussein's hand and helped him rally Arab public opinion against the US. The game for him centered, above all else, on Arab politics, and his miscalculations pertained more to Arab politics and public opinion than to American intentions.
Nathan Brown
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190619428
- eISBN:
- 9780190619459
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190619428.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter aims to portray the places where religion is argued in public in the Arab world. , It also attempts to give that description historical depth, to explore how those places have evolved ...
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This chapter aims to portray the places where religion is argued in public in the Arab world. , It also attempts to give that description historical depth, to explore how those places have evolved over recent decades. Small groups, in which public and private spheres intertwine; public spaces (such as mosques and public squares); and the vast array of newer and older media are examined over time. Finally, the chapter shows that while states and regimes leave a heavy imprint, the degree of their control varies quite significantly over time and space. This last claim sets the stage for Chapter 4, which shows how the various spaces are linked and how that linkage enables what it called the “revival” of Arab politics in the sense of lively public argumentation in recent years.Less
This chapter aims to portray the places where religion is argued in public in the Arab world. , It also attempts to give that description historical depth, to explore how those places have evolved over recent decades. Small groups, in which public and private spheres intertwine; public spaces (such as mosques and public squares); and the vast array of newer and older media are examined over time. Finally, the chapter shows that while states and regimes leave a heavy imprint, the degree of their control varies quite significantly over time and space. This last claim sets the stage for Chapter 4, which shows how the various spaces are linked and how that linkage enables what it called the “revival” of Arab politics in the sense of lively public argumentation in recent years.
Nathan Brown
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190619428
- eISBN:
- 9780190619459
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190619428.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter first explains the meaning of the “revival” of Arab politics. It then discusses the overall aim of this book: to understand and map the revived forms of Arab politics as they really are ...
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This chapter first explains the meaning of the “revival” of Arab politics. It then discusses the overall aim of this book: to understand and map the revived forms of Arab politics as they really are and explore their effects. In particular, it presents various sites of Arab public life to understand when various spheres arose, who participates in them, and how. It develops a more comprehensive sense of the Arab public sphere and presents its effect on policy outcomes: the revival of Arab politics does matter for policy, but only under specific conditions. The analysis focuses on religion and especially on arguments about the Islamic shari‘a precisely because there is a strong religious coloration to much public life in the Arab world. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This chapter first explains the meaning of the “revival” of Arab politics. It then discusses the overall aim of this book: to understand and map the revived forms of Arab politics as they really are and explore their effects. In particular, it presents various sites of Arab public life to understand when various spheres arose, who participates in them, and how. It develops a more comprehensive sense of the Arab public sphere and presents its effect on policy outcomes: the revival of Arab politics does matter for policy, but only under specific conditions. The analysis focuses on religion and especially on arguments about the Islamic shari‘a precisely because there is a strong religious coloration to much public life in the Arab world. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Elizabeth F. Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226185064
- eISBN:
- 9780226185088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226185088.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter presents a recuperation of Gone With the Wind's foreign career by examining its first run in the Arab world, during the early years of World War II. Historians have generally assumed ...
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This chapter presents a recuperation of Gone With the Wind's foreign career by examining its first run in the Arab world, during the early years of World War II. Historians have generally assumed that Arabs held a high opinion of American culture until the Arab–Israeli war of 1948. Their views are based on a perceived preference for American schools and businesses in the Middle East. The chapter also suggests the ways in which historical context shaped the reception of Hollywood's universal vernacular: war conditions, movie advertising, and the particular conditions of urban public spheres appear to have variously altered responses to Gone With the Wind in Cairo, Beirut, and Damascus. It considers a limited body of evidence as a first step toward a history of Middle Eastern movie spectatorship. Such a history enriches the understanding of how Arabs' attitudes toward American culture have changed over time. The chapter also throws light on popular values in Arab politics at a specific moment, near the close of the colonial era. Arab responses to Gone With the Wind reveal profound tensions between universal humanism and particularist religious and national identity.Less
This chapter presents a recuperation of Gone With the Wind's foreign career by examining its first run in the Arab world, during the early years of World War II. Historians have generally assumed that Arabs held a high opinion of American culture until the Arab–Israeli war of 1948. Their views are based on a perceived preference for American schools and businesses in the Middle East. The chapter also suggests the ways in which historical context shaped the reception of Hollywood's universal vernacular: war conditions, movie advertising, and the particular conditions of urban public spheres appear to have variously altered responses to Gone With the Wind in Cairo, Beirut, and Damascus. It considers a limited body of evidence as a first step toward a history of Middle Eastern movie spectatorship. Such a history enriches the understanding of how Arabs' attitudes toward American culture have changed over time. The chapter also throws light on popular values in Arab politics at a specific moment, near the close of the colonial era. Arab responses to Gone With the Wind reveal profound tensions between universal humanism and particularist religious and national identity.
Nathan J. Brown
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190619428
- eISBN:
- 9780190619459
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190619428.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This book analyzes the politics of religion in the Arab world after the emergence of new public spheres over the past few decades. By examining those spheres as they really are, rather than measuring ...
More
This book analyzes the politics of religion in the Arab world after the emergence of new public spheres over the past few decades. By examining those spheres as they really are, rather than measuring them against an ideal of democratic deliberation, the arguments and the spheres within which they are occur are revealed to be lively and increasingly participatory but also polarizing, divisive, and far from egalitarian. While they have grown in force, these spheres are not efficacious, leading to a widening gap between regimes and the societies they govern. Focusing on arguments aired in new and old media, neighborhood discussions, and parliaments, the book probes debates over constitution, family law, and education in depth. It shows how these various forums where arguments take place are increasingly linked, forming not a uniform citizenry but instead a badly divided one. The linkages among the spheres allow a leader’s words to followers to be overheard and then lampooned by opponents. Various groups become more acutely aware of how deeply they differ. As arguments are detached from the authority of the person making them, they spread in ways that can divide as well as persuade. Without a strong political process to forge agreement and reward coalition building, the reborn Arab politics is exciting and vital but also noisy, rough, and often ineffective.Less
This book analyzes the politics of religion in the Arab world after the emergence of new public spheres over the past few decades. By examining those spheres as they really are, rather than measuring them against an ideal of democratic deliberation, the arguments and the spheres within which they are occur are revealed to be lively and increasingly participatory but also polarizing, divisive, and far from egalitarian. While they have grown in force, these spheres are not efficacious, leading to a widening gap between regimes and the societies they govern. Focusing on arguments aired in new and old media, neighborhood discussions, and parliaments, the book probes debates over constitution, family law, and education in depth. It shows how these various forums where arguments take place are increasingly linked, forming not a uniform citizenry but instead a badly divided one. The linkages among the spheres allow a leader’s words to followers to be overheard and then lampooned by opponents. Various groups become more acutely aware of how deeply they differ. As arguments are detached from the authority of the person making them, they spread in ways that can divide as well as persuade. Without a strong political process to forge agreement and reward coalition building, the reborn Arab politics is exciting and vital but also noisy, rough, and often ineffective.
Nathan Brown
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190619428
- eISBN:
- 9780190619459
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190619428.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter reflects on the current political dynamics in the Arab world, showing that the revival of politics in the sense of strong public debates has been hampered in its effects by problematic ...
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This chapter reflects on the current political dynamics in the Arab world, showing that the revival of politics in the sense of strong public debates has been hampered in its effects by problematic political structures; reborn politics offers excitement and engagement but not more just or responsive political orders. Indeed, the republic of arguments flounders in its efficacy in part on the unjustness and unaccountable nature of existing political structures. The underlying problem—of people speaking but states only hearing when they wish—will not be easy to fix. Unless this problem is fixed, states may find their citizens resentful and full of complaints. Residents of the Arab world are discovering how complicated things become when real people—with all their insights, insecurities, passions, preferences, predilections, prejudices, altruism, and egoism—barge into public places.Less
This chapter reflects on the current political dynamics in the Arab world, showing that the revival of politics in the sense of strong public debates has been hampered in its effects by problematic political structures; reborn politics offers excitement and engagement but not more just or responsive political orders. Indeed, the republic of arguments flounders in its efficacy in part on the unjustness and unaccountable nature of existing political structures. The underlying problem—of people speaking but states only hearing when they wish—will not be easy to fix. Unless this problem is fixed, states may find their citizens resentful and full of complaints. Residents of the Arab world are discovering how complicated things become when real people—with all their insights, insecurities, passions, preferences, predilections, prejudices, altruism, and egoism—barge into public places.
Ariel I. Ahram
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190917371
- eISBN:
- 9780190917418
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190917371.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Comparative Politics
Chapter 2 discusses the breakdown of the normative and practical consensus surrounding sovereign statehood and the possibilities of a new Wilsonian moment in MENA. The 2011 Arab uprisings represented ...
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Chapter 2 discusses the breakdown of the normative and practical consensus surrounding sovereign statehood and the possibilities of a new Wilsonian moment in MENA. The 2011 Arab uprisings represented a continuation of a global crisis that led to the proliferation of civil wars, state failures, and state births. None of the initial uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, or Syria were bent on separatism. But the outside intervention gave separatists new ways to challenge the legitimacy and capacity of existing states and make claims for self-determination. The international community, however, vacillated in its response to these efforts, creating conditions for state collapse.Less
Chapter 2 discusses the breakdown of the normative and practical consensus surrounding sovereign statehood and the possibilities of a new Wilsonian moment in MENA. The 2011 Arab uprisings represented a continuation of a global crisis that led to the proliferation of civil wars, state failures, and state births. None of the initial uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, or Syria were bent on separatism. But the outside intervention gave separatists new ways to challenge the legitimacy and capacity of existing states and make claims for self-determination. The international community, however, vacillated in its response to these efforts, creating conditions for state collapse.
Nathan Brown
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190619428
- eISBN:
- 9780190619459
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190619428.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book’s main themes: how arguments over religion take place; how contentious they are; and the varying degrees to which they affect policy ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book’s main themes: how arguments over religion take place; how contentious they are; and the varying degrees to which they affect policy outcomes. While they can aggravate conflict and polarization, these problems stem less from their religious character than their lack of policy traction, and there are few mechanisms that induce participants to come to an agreement or affect a decision. It is their ineffectual nature, much more than their content, that makes the arguments increasingly divisive. The introduction lays out the aim of the book to describe what might be called an ethnography of existing Arab politics as it really is. It offers an explanation of the effects of political arguments over religion in the Arab world, focusing on whether people experience the political world differently or whether policy changes as a result of the vitality of political arguments over religion.Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book’s main themes: how arguments over religion take place; how contentious they are; and the varying degrees to which they affect policy outcomes. While they can aggravate conflict and polarization, these problems stem less from their religious character than their lack of policy traction, and there are few mechanisms that induce participants to come to an agreement or affect a decision. It is their ineffectual nature, much more than their content, that makes the arguments increasingly divisive. The introduction lays out the aim of the book to describe what might be called an ethnography of existing Arab politics as it really is. It offers an explanation of the effects of political arguments over religion in the Arab world, focusing on whether people experience the political world differently or whether policy changes as a result of the vitality of political arguments over religion.
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804753722
- eISBN:
- 9780804768023
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804753722.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter links the coming of Westphalian sovereignty to the timing and character of political struggles inside Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria. The existence of liberal democratic ...
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This chapter links the coming of Westphalian sovereignty to the timing and character of political struggles inside Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria. The existence of liberal democratic institutions throughout the Arab world greatly helped the emergence of an anarchic Middle Eastern states-system. Egyptian nationalists adopted a foreign policy platform whose primary components implied the principles of Westphalian sovereignty as part of an intense struggle to win the support of the country's small-scale manufacturers and shopkeepers. The Jordanian leadership played in preventing the formation of a tactical alliance between discontented members of the petite bourgeoisie and radical organizations actively engaged in trying to overturn the Hashemite regime. The coming of Westphalian sovereignty indicated the significance of popular participation and electoral institutions in Arab politics during the first half of the twentieth century.Less
This chapter links the coming of Westphalian sovereignty to the timing and character of political struggles inside Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria. The existence of liberal democratic institutions throughout the Arab world greatly helped the emergence of an anarchic Middle Eastern states-system. Egyptian nationalists adopted a foreign policy platform whose primary components implied the principles of Westphalian sovereignty as part of an intense struggle to win the support of the country's small-scale manufacturers and shopkeepers. The Jordanian leadership played in preventing the formation of a tactical alliance between discontented members of the petite bourgeoisie and radical organizations actively engaged in trying to overturn the Hashemite regime. The coming of Westphalian sovereignty indicated the significance of popular participation and electoral institutions in Arab politics during the first half of the twentieth century.
Stéphane Lacroix and Jean-Pierre Filiu
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- June 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190876081
- eISBN:
- 9780190943097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190876081.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Conflict Politics and Policy
This book focuses on the few countries where actual transitions have happened: Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Syria, where the authoritarian breakdown was only partial, will also be considered. ...
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This book focuses on the few countries where actual transitions have happened: Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Syria, where the authoritarian breakdown was only partial, will also be considered. Most of the book’s contributors adopt a comparative approach, either comparing those different countries among themselves, or comparing them with other Arab and non-Arab countries with similar features (i.e., Morocco, Algeria, and even Turkey). The choice was made to focus on a limited number of themes which have not received systematic comparative attention, and which offer crucial insights into the dynamics of the Arab transitions as they took place. The first part of this book deals with the dynamics of accommodation and polarization generated by the institutional process during transitions. The second part of the volume looks at the role of militaries in the different transitions. The third part of the book looks at several non-state actors that have impacted the transitions. The last part of the volume addresses the often overlooked issue of transitional justice, or the lack thereof.Less
This book focuses on the few countries where actual transitions have happened: Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Syria, where the authoritarian breakdown was only partial, will also be considered. Most of the book’s contributors adopt a comparative approach, either comparing those different countries among themselves, or comparing them with other Arab and non-Arab countries with similar features (i.e., Morocco, Algeria, and even Turkey). The choice was made to focus on a limited number of themes which have not received systematic comparative attention, and which offer crucial insights into the dynamics of the Arab transitions as they took place. The first part of this book deals with the dynamics of accommodation and polarization generated by the institutional process during transitions. The second part of the volume looks at the role of militaries in the different transitions. The third part of the book looks at several non-state actors that have impacted the transitions. The last part of the volume addresses the often overlooked issue of transitional justice, or the lack thereof.
