Description
An eye-opening survey of the recent Arab revolutions and their political consequences, comparing them to those of a previous generation.
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For Dawisha (political science, Miami U.), the so-called "Arab Spring" can and should be considered a "Second Arab Awakening" and should be analyzed in comparison to the first such awakening, the revolutions that swept the Arab world 50 to 60 years earlier that were similarly initiated by young and idealistic revolutionaries "but ended up producing the batch of cruel and thoroughly ghastly dictators against whom the present protests were launched." He therefore begins with a narrative analysis of those earlier uprisings and their consequences and then delves into an exploration of the politics of the current wave. Conceding that politics in the region is likely to be dominated by Islamist political forces, he nevertheless holds out hope that they can work within a liberal democratic framework. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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