Overview

The electoral success of Islamist parties in the Middle East and North Africa in the wake of the Arab Spring has been welcomed by their Islamist proponents that were under pressure from their former ruling regimes. However, their success has been met with concerns and fears by secularists and religious minorities in these countries. The question of whether this Arab Islamic awakening represents a step forward or backward for human rights and democracy came to the agenda because of the possibility of the marginalization of those rights by fundamentalists religious political parties or groups. This book explores changes in the Middle East and North Africa in the aftermath of the Arab Spring by giving a brief history of developments. It discusses the types of challenges that these countries have faced, and continue to face, during their democratic transitions. It offers readers a more complete overview of the complex and interrelated aspects of the Arab Spring and the roles of Islam and democracy in these ongoing developments.

Full Product Details

9781443847148

Table of Contents

Reviews

The Arab Spring is more than Islam and democracy. It is the spontaneous outburst of peoples' - particularly youth's - aspirations for Dignity, Work, Liberty and Citizenship, in the words of the Tunisian and Egyptian slogans. It is also the still-unfolding story of society, economy and politics in the affected countries when more organized forces take over the political opening made by the intifada, the uprising. Ideology, religion, demographics, politics and economics all affect the evolution of the countries involved and they in turn affect their neighbors in the region. This book examines these paths in depth as the countries turn their backs on mukhabarat dictatorships and head toward democracy, [which is] still a long way off. - I. William Zartman, Professor Emeritus at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

The Arab Spring is more than Islam and democracy. It is the spontaneous outburst of peoples' - particularly youth's - aspirations for Dignity, Work, Liberty and Citizenship, in the words of the Tunisian and Egyptian slogans. It is also the still-unfolding story of society, economy and politics in the affected countries when more organized forces take over the political opening made by the intifada, the uprising. Ideology, religion, demographics, politics and economics all affect the evolution of the countries involved and they in turn affect their neighbors in the region. This book examines these paths in depth as the countries turn their backs on mukhabarat dictatorships and head toward democracy, [which is] still a long way off. - I. William Zartman, Professor Emeritus at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Author Information

Aylin Ünver Noi is an Assistant Professor in the International Relations Department in the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Gedik University, Istanbul. She is also Vice-Director of the European Union Application and Research Center at Gedik University. She holds an MA and a PhD in European Union Politics and International Relations from the European Union Institute, Marmara University, Istanbul, and a BA in International Relations from Bilkent University, Ankara. Dr Noi is the author of The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative: Competing or Complementary Projects? (published in English by the University Press of America, Lanham, MD, 2011) and The Rise of Nationalism in Europe (published in Turkish by IQ Publishers, Istanbul, 2007), as well as several articles on the Arab Spring.

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