Eu Democracy Promotion And The Arab Spring: International Cooperation And Authoritarianism (governance And Limited Statehood)

The author explores the practice and effects of the European Union's democracy promotion efforts vis-à-vis its authoritarian neighbours in the Middle East and North Africa. She argues that the same set of factors facilitated both international cooperation of authoritarian regimes on democracy promotion and their persistence during the Arab Spring. Fuelled by the suspicion that the European Union's democracy promotion efforts in the Middle East and North Africa over the past 20 years were not only ineffective but even counterproductive, this book critically reviews the practice and effects of international democracy promotion efforts vis-a-vis authoritarian regimes. How and under which conditions do authoritarian regimes cooperate on democracy promotion efforts by international actors? And what does the Arab Spring tell us about the nature and prospects of these efforts? Following a comprehensive analysis of cooperation on democracy and human rights in Euro-Mediterranean relations since the early 1990s, the author argues that the same set of factors facilitated both the cooperation of authoritarian regimes and their persistence during the Arab Spring. For authoritarian regimes with moderate levels of political liberalization and statehood, cooperation on democracy and human rights became part of their more 'successful' survival strategies Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-14 From Democracy Promotion to Cooperation....Pages 15-52 Regional Patterns of Cooperation....Pages 53-74 Variation in Cooperation....Pages 75-107 Authoritarian Survival Strategies and Cooperation....Pages 108-144 The Arab Spring and Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation....Pages 145-183 Conclusions....Pages 184-197 Back Matter....Pages 198-242 The author explores the practice and effects of the European Union's democracy promotion efforts vis-a-vis its authoritarian neighbours in the Middle East and North Africa. She argues that the same set of factors facilitated both international cooperation of authoritarian regimes on democracy promotion and their persistence during the Arab Spring.