REACȚIA STATELOR OCCIDENTALE FAȚĂ DE „PRIMĂVARA ARABĂ” - ÎNTRE EXPECTATIVĂ ȘI ANGAJARE SELECTIVĂ
THE REACTION OF WESTERN COUNTRIES TOWARDS “THE ARAB SPRING” – BETWEEN EXPECTATION AND SELECTIVE ENGAGEMENT

Summary/Abstract: The uprisings that broke out in the Arab world in late 2010 and early 2011 were a surprise for most of the Western countries. Their reaction to the protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain has oscillated between wait-and see and selective engagement. After a period of evaluation of these developments, the European Union initiated a number of programs to support democratic transition in the southern Mediterranean Arab states. U.S. preferred a selective involvement in the region, hardly giving up supporting the regimes in Egypt and Yemen, overlooking the counter-revolution in Bahrain, helping to overthrow the Libyan regime and showing a restrained attitude towards the events in Syria. Geopolitical considerations and direct interests of each Western state in the Middle East have played a more important role than the imperative to support democratic transition in the Arab world.

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