New Publication: Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World

The recently published book Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World (Routledge, 30th September 2010) illustrates that the popular view in political sciences and policy making that civil society activism plays an important role in processes of democratization is for many reasons not valid for Arab countries. Building on Jamal’s work (2007), this study by Francesco Cavatorta and Vincent Durac discusses the authoritarian and sectarian wider political context of countries such as Alge...

The Uncertain Future of Democracy Promotion, by Steven Heydemann

30/08/2010 Democracy promotion has had a tough decade, nowhere more so than in the Middle East. Ten years ago, the democratic optimism that followed the end of the Cold War was in relatively good health. Today, after a decade of authoritarian reversals, a sustained “backlash against democracy promotion,” and authoritarian resurgence from Russia to Africa to Latin America, post-Cold War optimism has given way to a darker, more sober assessment of democratization’s limits. The Middle East in particular, w...