• Research
  • Strategic Europe
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Europe logoCarnegie lettermark logo
EUUkraine
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Amr Hamzawy",
    "Michael McFaul"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "Arab Awakening"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Middle East",
    "North Africa",
    "Egypt",
    "Levant"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Democracy",
    "Security"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media

Ghosts of the Arab Spring

Supporting Arab autocrats may produce some short-term gains, but at the price of long-term disaster.

Link Copied
By Amr Hamzawy and Michael McFaul
Published on Aug 22, 2016

Source: Hoover Digest

Five years after the Arab Spring, democracy seems a distant dream in the Middle East. Arab ruling elites, royal families, militaries, security services, and some businesspeople welcome this outcome. Restoring stability, the argument goes, is more important than democracy. Many Western governments have embraced this logic as well. Threatened as a result of state failure and an accompanying terrorist upsurge, US and European officials now argue that the most urgent need in the Middle East is fighting the Islamic State and its affiliates—a fight that requires collaboration with autocratic rulers. Strengthening Arab autocrats—including, for some, even the mass murderer Bashar al-Assad—is an evil necessary to defeating the Islamic State in Syria, Iraq, and the rest of the region...

Read the full article at the Hoover Digest. 

About the Authors

Amr Hamzawy

Director, Middle East Program

Amr Hamzawy is a senior fellow and the director of the Carnegie Middle East Program. His research and writings focus on Egypt’s and other middle powers’ involvement in regional security in the Middle East, particularly through collective diplomacy and multilateral conflict resolution

Michael McFaul

Former Senior Associate

In addition to his role at Carnegie, McFaul is Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and associate professor of political science at Stanford University.

Authors

Amr Hamzawy
Director, Middle East Program
Amr Hamzawy
Michael McFaul
Former Senior Associate
Michael McFaul
Political ReformDemocracySecurityMiddle EastNorth AfricaEgyptLevant

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Europe

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Taking the Pulse: Can Europe Fund Ukraine Without Russian Assets?

    A sizeable funding shortfall looks increasingly likely to hit Ukraine in 2027. Can the Europeans, with their strained budgets and economies, come up with the cash without seizing frozen Russian assets?

      • Rym Momtaz

      Rym Momtaz, ed.

  • Serbia election student list vucic
    Article
    Serbia Still Has a Steep Hill to Climb

    After two years of mass protests, Serbia’s student-led movement has ousted Aleksandar Vučić. Now the Student List must prove it can deliver on its promises.

      Dimitar Bechev

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Is Russia Winning the Perception War in Germany?

    In Germany, competing perceptions of Russia are highlighting a tension between public opinion and government policy. In the country’s east, where division is widespread, populist parties are taking advantage.

      • Gwendolyn Sasse

      Gwendolyn Sasse

  • Article
    Turkey’s Four Headaches Are Also Europe’s

    Between stalled economic ties and a push for greater security cooperation, EU-Turkey relations remain uncertain. Ankara’s continued slide toward autocracy is the likeliest common denominator in these competing dynamics.

      Marc Pierini

  • Planetary Power: Geoengineering and the New Geopolitics of Climate Intervention
    Research
    Planetary Power: Geoengineering and the New Geopolitics of Climate Intervention

    Geoengineering is becoming a geopolitical question as much as a climate one. The way states and the private sector pursue these technologies, assess risks, and drive research increasingly appears focused on gaining a strategic edge. In a field where governance in lagging behind, Europe should keep track of the geopolitical implications if it is to develop effective regulatory frameworks.

      Olivia Lazard, ed.

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Europe Communiqué
Carnegie Europe logo, white
Rue du Congrès, 151000 Brussels, Belgium
  • Research
  • Strategic Europe
  • About
  • Experts
  • Projects
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Gender Equality Plan
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Europe Communiqué
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.