Suchergebnisse

Neither stability nor change in the post-colonial Arab world can be fully understood without considering the international context, and American Foreign policy in particular. However, the exact nature of America's presence in the Arab world, and the scope and modes of its influence, all appear to have reached a crossroads since the Arab uprisings. 'US Hard Power in the Arab World' traces the US's "power of persuasion" in the Arab Middle East from the onset of the War on Terror in 2001 through to the Arab Spring. With a particular focus on Syria, the book explores the limits of an American "smart power" amid the emergence of a growing indigenous "soft power" whose ire is directed not only at Assad's regime, but also at the violence perpetrated or enabled by the international community, headed by the US. It is argued that the blurring of the two forms of "soft" and "hard" American power has tarnished the credibility of US policies geared to win hearts and minds in the Arab world. 'US Hard Power in the Arab World' narrates the contests between attraction and intimidation, public diplomacy and military occupation, elites and publics, seduction and resistance. Drawing upon a multitude of primary sources, including personal interviews with Syrian activists and opposition figures, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Middle East Politics, as well as those concerned with American Foreign Policy and the Arab Spring

This article explores the participation of children in the Syrian uprising against Bashar al-Assad. The involvement of children in democratic social movements and regime transitions has not been addressed in the literature, although some works describe the role children can play in making public policy or in the humanitarian domain. I argue that just as the role of women and of university-aged youth was gradually incorporated in the body of research on the social movements and regime transitions, so should the role of children be studied. I then characterize the role of children in the Syrian uprising as a three-stage cycle, whereby children unwittingly sparked the revolution, then were targeted by the regime in response, and finally, have been, along with adults across the country, spurred to further anti-Assad action, rather than silence and submission, as a result of the regime's brutality. Providing empirical evidence to illustrate how this cycle plays out in Syria, I suggest that additional research is needed to further examine and theorize about the role of children in social movements and regime transitions.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic - at the interlocking levels of politics, economy, and society – have been different across regions, states, and societies. In the case of the Middle East and North Africa, which was already in the throes of intense tumult following the onset of the 2011 Arab Spring, COVID's blows have on the one hand followed the trajectory of some global patterns, while at the same time playing out in regionally specific ways. Based on empirical country-level analysis, this volume brings together an international team of contributors seeking to untangle how COVID-19 unfolds across the MENA. The analyses are framed through a contextual adaptation of Ulrich Beck's famous concept of "risk society" that pinpointed the negative consequences of modernity and its unbridled capitalism. The book traces how this has come home in full force in the COVID-19 pandemic. The editors, Larbi Sadiki and Layla Saleh, use the term "Arab risk society". They highlight short-term and long-term repercussions across the MENA. These include socio-economic inequality, a revitalized state of authoritarianism challenged by relentless democratic struggles. But the analyses are attuned to problem-solving research. The "ethnographies of the pandemic" included in this book investigate transformations and coping mechanisms within each country case study. They provide an ethically-informed research praxis that can respond to the manifold crises crashing down upon MENA polities and societies.

"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic -- at the interlocking levels of politics, economy, and society -- have been different across regions, states, and societies. In the case of the Middle East and North Africa, which was already in the throes of intense tumult following the onset of the 2011 Arab Spring, COVID's blows have on the one hand followed the trajectory of some global patterns, while at the same time playing out in regionally specific ways. Based on empirical country-level analysis, this volume brings together an international team of contributors seeking to untangle how COVID-19 unfolds across the MENA. There is special reference to issues of (self) governance and democracy, and the enormous challenges heightened by the pandemic in many Arab settings: inequality, human indignity and resurgent authoritarianism. The analyses are framed through Ulrich Beck's famous concept of "risk society" that pinpointed the negative consequences of modernity and its unbridled capitalism, and the book traces how this has come home in full force in the COVID-19 pandemic. The editors, Larbi Sadiki and Layla Saleh, use the term "Arab risk society" to refer to the short-term and long-term repercussions on Arab societies across the areas of socio-economic inequality, a revitalized state that is more securitized than ever before, and the relentless democratic aspirations and civic-political freedoms. But the analyses are attuned to problem-solving research. The "ethnographies of the pandemic" included in this book investigate transformations and coping mechanisms within each country case study and provide an ethically-informed research praxis that can respond to the manifold crises crashing down upon Arab states and societies."--