US Approaches to the Arab Uprisings : International Relations and Democracy Promotion

State sponsorship of terrorism is a complex and important topic in today's international affairs - and especially pertinent in the regional politics of the Middle East and South Asia, where Pakistan has long been a flashpoint of Islamist politics and terrorism. In Islamism and Intelligence in South Asia, Prem Mahadevan demonstrates how over several decades, radical Islamists, sometimes with the tacit support of parts of the military establishment, have weakened democratic governance in Pakistan and acquired progressively larger influence over policy-making. Mahadevan traces this history back to the anti-colonial Deobandi movement, which was born out of the post-partition political atmosphere and a rediscovery of the thinking of Ibn Taymiyyah, and partially ennobled the idea of `jihad' in South Asia as a righteous war against foreign oppression. Using Pakistani media and academic sources for the bulk of its raw data, and reinforcing this with scholarly analysis from Western commentators, the book tracks Pakistan's trajectory towards a `soft' Islamic revolution. Envisioned by the country's intelligence community as a solution to chronic governance failures, these narratives called for a re-orientation away from South Asia and towards the Middle East. In the process, Pakistan has become a sanctuary for Arab jihadist groups, such as Al-Qaeda, who had no previous ethnic or linguistic connection with South Asia. Most alarmingly, official discourse on terrorism has been partly silenced by the military-intelligence complex. The result is a slow drift towards extremism and possible legitimation of internationally proscribed terrorist organizations in Pakistan's electoral politics. Cover Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction: Contesting the Dominant Narratives of the Arab Spring 1. Washington’s Liberalist Ideological Stance and Contradictory Policies in the Middle East Introduction Ideology and the Liberalist Ideological Orientation The Liberalist Ideological Orientation and the MENA Region Conclusion 2. Strategic or Democratic Interests?: Framing US Foreign Policy in the Middle East Uprisings What We Know About Presidents, the Media, and Public Opinion Expectations Findings Alternative Explanations for Patterns in News Coverage? Manufacturing Consent? The Media and Public Opinion Main Lessons 3. The Arab Spring, US Intervention in Libya, and the Lingering Politics of Rwanda Remorse Intervention in Libya and the Ideological Role of Rwanda Remorse Western Intervention in Rwanda: 1990 – 4 Making Peace With Disintervention 4. Whither Wasatiyya? Locating Egypt’s Liminal Actors, Five Years after the Uprising Rethinking Moderation, Locating Liminality Egypt’s Islamist Liminars Liminality, Transitional Justice, and Democracy Promotion 5. Discourses of Democracy and Gender: How and Why Do Women’s Rights Matter? Introduction Dual Narratives of Women as Democratic Actors Situating Western Discourses in State and Global Power Native Informants and the Security State in the Global South Conclusion 6. Justin Zongo and the Place of the “Arab Spring”: Repression, Resistance, and Revolution in Egypt and Burkina Faso Authoritarian Egypt: Contesting Socialism and Neoliberalism Burkina Faso: Protest Culture and the Pivotal Sankara Regime Theorizing Fear, Volition, and Constraint Conclusion: The Challenge of Examining Ruptured Space 7. A Matter of Protest: The Arab Spring in Syria Introduction The “Hirak” in the Arab Spring Center vs. Periphery and the Dynamic of Change The Arab Spring: Progenitor of Democratization? The Hirak in Syria Narrating the Thuwwar and Ahrar Contestation and Renewal in Revolutionary Narratives Conclusion 8. Making Revolutionaries out of “Safe Citizens”: Sovereignty, Political Violence, and the Arab Uprisings Introduction The National Security State and its Need for Safe Citizens Making Revolutionaries out of Safe Citizens The Sovereign State Response to Revolutionary Unsafe Citizens The Authoritarian Attempt to Make Unsafe Citizens Safe The US and the West Attempt to Make Unsafe Citizens Safe Conclusion: Making Future Revolutionaries 9. The Arab Uprisings and Twenty-First-Century Global Crises: Is There an Emerging Network of Global Dissent? Introduction Sketching the Beginnings of a Network of Global Resistance “New” Social and Political Formations New Capabilities New Ideas and Institutions Conclusion Bibliography Index "From nonviolent protests in Cairo and Manama to the ousting of Libya's Gaddafi and the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, the series of uprisings which swept through the Middle East and North Africa from late 2010 have been burdened with the collective hopes and expectations of the world. Western supporters quickly identified these uprisings as a collective 'awakening' - a move towards democracy - but the continued unrest in these regions defies many of these more optimistic contemporary predictions. As the region remains unstable, the US and their Western allies are faced with the challenging task of modifying their strategic foreign policy goals to suit the currently mercurial Arab World. The 'Arab Spring' and its failure exposed a new set of questions: What motivates American 'democracy promotion'? Does the US really want self-determination in the Middle-East and North Africa? Where did the expectations of the protestors fit into this narrative? U.S. Approaches to the Arab Uprisings provides a comprehensive assessment of Western foreign policy towards the Arab World today. With analysis on subjects as diverse as social media and Islamic centrism, and drawing from examples throughout the MENA region, the book deals with the perception of Arabs and Arab culture in the American psyche and its effect on East-West relations. By analyzing both Western responses to uprisings and the reactions of the protestors themselves, the contributors expose theoretical and practical inconsistencies that suggest a rising tension between those that promote democracy and those who practice it."--Bloomsbury Publishing. From nonviolent protests in Cairo and Manama to the ousting of Libya's Gaddafi and the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, the series of uprisings which swept through the Middle East and North Africa from late 2010 have been burdened with the collective hopes and expectations of the world. Western supporters quickly identified these uprisings as a collective "awakening" -- a move towards democracy -- but the continued unrest in these regions defies many of these more optimistic contemporary predictions. The "Arab Spring" and its failure exposed a new set of questions: What motivates American "democracy promotion"? Does the US really want self-determination in the Middle East and North Africa? Where did the expectations of the protestors fit into this narrative? [This book] provides a comprehensive assessment of Western foreign policy towards the Arab world today. With analysis on subjects as diverse as social media and Islamic centrism, and drawing from examples throughout the MENA region, the book deals with the perception of Arabs and Arab culture in the American psyche and its effect on East-West relations. By analyzing both Western responses to uprisings and the reactions of the protestors themselves, the contributors expose theoretical and practical inconsistencies that suggest a rising tension between those that promote democracy and those who practice it. -- Back cover