Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind: Challenges of Transition for the Arab Spring
Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind: Challenges of Transition for the Arab Spring

Summary/Abstract: It is no exaggeration to say that the events sweeping the Arab World in the past year have gripped us all and I guess a lot of us (myself included) are still trying to grapple with their implications. Yet, at this stage I think it is better to exercise caution before coming to any definitive conclusions about post-uprising politics. For no other reason than there are few guarantees during a transitional phase. Drawing on lessons from the field of democratization studies, the following article argues that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region faces some major obstacles in what will be difficult times ahead for its post-authoritarian political reform.

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