Insight Turkey
Insight Turkey
Challenging ideas
On Turkish politics and International affairs

Author

Yasser M. El-Shimy

Yasser M. El-Shimy, Former Egyptian Diplomat and a Doctoral Candidate at Boston University, shimy@bu.edu
Yasser M. El-Shimy
The Arab Spring Gathers Clouds: Why the Revolts for Change Have Stalled
October 1, 2011
The wave of popular protests engulfing the Arab Middle East has yielded markedly different results. While the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia prompted meaningful, and immediate, political change, the regimes of Syria, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen are able to put up a fight. The violent stalemates in the latter countries may eventually give way to political reform, but for now the fate of their popular uprisings is anything but certain. What explains this outcome divergence between the two sets of nations? What makes one autocratic Arab regime stronger than another? What roles do societies and militaries play in shaping the future of the Arab Spring? This article suggests that authoritarian regimes with established networks of social patronage and unwavering military loyalty are better able to withstand calls for change.

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