Democracy, Reform, and Authoritarianism in the Arab World

The potential for reform in the pattern of persistent authoritarianism in the Arab world has been the subject of interest for policymakers, the informed general public, and scholars alike, particularly since the end of the Cold War and again after the events of 11 September 2001.It is also one that has generated much debate within the Arab world itself, both in this period and, less prominently, but at times very acutely, throughout much of the twentieth century. Such debates and investigations have been carried out at the popular, political, intelligentsia, and scholarly levels, producing a varied array of commentary, analysis, and policy prescription.The subject ties in to questions of the relationship between Islam and politics, and, in a comparative context of democratization studies, the role of political culture, the nature of civil society and the middle class, the role of external powers, and the links-if any-between economic development and economic liberalization on the one h