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"Introduction" [2018] ELECD 412; in Butenschøn, A. Nils; Meijer, Roel (eds), "The Middle East in Transition" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 1

Book Title: The Middle East in Transition

Editor(s): Butenschøn, A. Nils; Meijer, Roel

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781788111126

Section Title: Introduction

Number of pages: 24

Abstract/Description:

The Middle East is currently undergoing the most dramatic transition since World War I. The crisis was unleashed by the Arab Uprisings (or ‘Arab Spring’) in 2010–2011, and is still (in 2017) unfolding in different violent and non-violent forms, from North Africa to the Gulf. What we witness in several parts of the Arab region is the implosion of states and state authority, leaving behind devastations, unprecedented suffering, and zones of power vacuum ready to be filled by non-state militias or external powers alike. This book seeks to explore the condition of citizenship in the region as a core dimension of the crisis, a dimension that tends to be overlooked in the dramatic stream of events, also by academics. The Arab Uprisings brought to the surface a complex set of social, economic, and political grievances, but most of all a deep mistrust of citizens towards their own governments. The millions who occupied the streets in the early months of 2011 with demands of bread, dignity, and accountable government ignited an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy that threatened the local and regional political order. Locally, among most people, what happened is called a ‘revolution’. Several rulers were indeed toppled, and modest reforms were achieved elsewhere, but the overall picture is currently that of counter-revolutionary forces hitting back mercilessly. Conflicts over the terms of citizenship understood as a social contract between rulers and the ruled are at the core of these developments and should be approached as such.