1. Spring 2013
- Author:
- Vivek Chilukuri
- Publication Date:
- 05-2013
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Journal:
- Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The third year of the Arab revolts has presented several domestic and foreign challenges for the nations involved. Each nation has reflected the specificities of their local conditions, citizen grievances, and regime legitimacies and responses. At the same time, several common themes have emerged, such as the core underlying demand for a life of integrity, civility, and dignity, while also enjoying a basic set of universal human and citizen rights. Constitutional votes and the reorganization of state structures in Tunisia and Egypt will serve as the guiding lights for other nations still making their way toward reforms, though these remain hotly debated topics throughout each nation in the region. Though Islamists have risen to power, we have seen that their popularity is not infallible and is now fluctuating in response to their performances after assuming power. In the end, questions of "social justice" return as the main and enduring motivator for protesters in the Arab world, particularly when it comes to many of these countries' socioeconomic disparities.
- Topic:
- Islam and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Egypt and Tunisia