{
"authors": [
"Lina Khatib",
"Ellen Lust"
],
"type": "other",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
],
"collections": [
"Arab Awakening"
],
"englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
"programAffiliation": "MEP",
"programs": [
"Middle East"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"Egypt",
"Gulf",
"Levant",
"Maghreb",
"Middle East",
"North Africa"
],
"topics": [
"Political Reform"
]
}
Source: Getty
The three years since 2011 have witnessed enormous changes in activism across the Arab world, but the full story of the Arab Spring has yet to be written.
Source: Project on Middle East Democracy
The three years since 2011 have witnessed enormous changes in activism across the Arab world. Heady days of demonstrations have given way to frustration, as activists from Morocco to Yemen struggle to define a way forward in complex, difficult, and often violent contexts. Khatib and Lust’s new book, Taking to the Streets: The Transformation of Arab Activism explores many of the challenges that activists face today. Their analysis aims not only to provide a better understanding of past events, but also to help establish expectations that better prepare activists, policymakers, and observers to anticipate and engage in the future.
From a series of country-specific cases, this policy brief analyzes three trends: the role of institutional structures and regime type in shaping activist behavior, changing contexts and new modes of activism, and the heightened influence of regional actors.This policy brief was originally published by Project on Middle East Democracy.
Former Director, Middle East Center
Khatib was director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Previously, she was the co-founding head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.
Ellen Lust
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.
The war in Iran proves the United States is now a destabilizing actor for Europe and the Arab Gulf. From protect their economies and energy supplies to safeguarding their territorial integrity, both regions have much to gain from forming a new kind of partnership together.
Rym Momtaz
Stakeholders must demand major restructuring of the Board of Peace and robust oversight and transparency before engaging with it. Until then, rights-respecting existing platforms and mechanisms for multilateral peacemaking should be supported.
Zaha Hassan, Charles H. Johnson
In an interview, Kheder Khaddour explains that Damascus is trying to stabilize its borders, but avoiding war isn’t guaranteed.
Michael Young
The country’s strategy is no longer focused on deterrence and diplomacy, it’s about dominance and degradation.
Nathan J. Brown
The decision of Lebanon’s parliament may look exceptional, but in reality it is not.
Issam Kayssi