Sean Yom
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231175647
- eISBN:
- 9780231540278
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231175647.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Middle Eastern Politics
Based on comparative historical analyses of Iran, Jordan, and Kuwait, Sean L. Yom examines the foreign interventions, coalitional choices, and state outcomes that made the political regimes of the ...
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Based on comparative historical analyses of Iran, Jordan, and Kuwait, Sean L. Yom examines the foreign interventions, coalitional choices, and state outcomes that made the political regimes of the modern Middle East. A key text for foreign policy scholars, From Resilience to Revolution shows how outside interference can corrupt the most basic choices of governance: who to reward, who to punish, who to compensate, and who to manipulate. As colonial rule dissolved in the 1930s and 1950s, Middle Eastern autocrats constructed new political states to solidify their reigns, with varying results. Why did equally ambitious authoritarians meet such unequal fates? Yom ties the durability of Middle Eastern regimes to their geopolitical origins. At the dawn of the postcolonial era, many autocratic states had little support from their people and struggled to overcome widespread opposition. When foreign powers intervened to bolster these regimes, they unwittingly sabotaged the prospects for long-term stability by discouraging leaders from reaching out to their people and bargaining for mass support—early coalitional decisions that created repressive institutions and planted the seeds for future unrest. Only when they were secluded from larger geopolitical machinations did Middle Eastern regimes come to grips with their weaknesses and build broader coalitions.Less
Based on comparative historical analyses of Iran, Jordan, and Kuwait, Sean L. Yom examines the foreign interventions, coalitional choices, and state outcomes that made the political regimes of the modern Middle East. A key text for foreign policy scholars, From Resilience to Revolution shows how outside interference can corrupt the most basic choices of governance: who to reward, who to punish, who to compensate, and who to manipulate. As colonial rule dissolved in the 1930s and 1950s, Middle Eastern autocrats constructed new political states to solidify their reigns, with varying results. Why did equally ambitious authoritarians meet such unequal fates? Yom ties the durability of Middle Eastern regimes to their geopolitical origins. At the dawn of the postcolonial era, many autocratic states had little support from their people and struggled to overcome widespread opposition. When foreign powers intervened to bolster these regimes, they unwittingly sabotaged the prospects for long-term stability by discouraging leaders from reaching out to their people and bargaining for mass support—early coalitional decisions that created repressive institutions and planted the seeds for future unrest. Only when they were secluded from larger geopolitical machinations did Middle Eastern regimes come to grips with their weaknesses and build broader coalitions.
DANIELA DONNO
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199991280
- eISBN:
- 9780199363230
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199991280.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines three country cases in which the international enforcement of democratic norms either failed to produce meaningful electoral change or had, at best, partial or superficial ...
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This chapter examines three country cases in which the international enforcement of democratic norms either failed to produce meaningful electoral change or had, at best, partial or superficial effects: Armenia, Kenya and Cambodia. Examining these cases generates insights about the scope conditions of the theory and sheds further light on the relationship between international actors and the opposition. The cases suggest, for instance, that in the absence of a minimally viable and cohesive opposition, international pressure is likely to produce only limited, cosmetic improvements in electoral quality. The ability of international actors to produce even marginal changes under such conditions depends, in turn, on the consistency and strength of the enforcement effort itself.Less
This chapter examines three country cases in which the international enforcement of democratic norms either failed to produce meaningful electoral change or had, at best, partial or superficial effects: Armenia, Kenya and Cambodia. Examining these cases generates insights about the scope conditions of the theory and sheds further light on the relationship between international actors and the opposition. The cases suggest, for instance, that in the absence of a minimally viable and cohesive opposition, international pressure is likely to produce only limited, cosmetic improvements in electoral quality. The ability of international actors to produce even marginal changes under such conditions depends, in turn, on the consistency and strength of the enforcement effort itself.
