You Say You Want a Revolution? Transition, Stability and Chaos in Post-Dictatorship Arab States

In this talk, Hussein Ibish looks at the different ways post-dictatorship transition has unfolded in the three North African Arab states that experienced regime change during the “Arab Spring”: Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. Among the questions he addresses are: What are the new systems emerging in those countries? To what extent have old governance structures persisted despite the changes? How have Islamists fared in each of the three states, and what are the prospects for their long-term power? What about non-Islamist opposition movements and parties? Are these states on the road to stability or a period of protracted chaos? And what influence will their experiences have on the broader region and vice versa? Are we seeing the emergence of the consent of the governed, or the consolidation of power by new and/or old elites?
Hussein Ibish is Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine. He is a regular contributor on Middle East affairs in numerous publications and a weekly columnist at “Now Media” and “The Daily Beast.” His most recent book is WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE ONE-STATE AGENDA? Dr. Ibish has a PhD in Comparative Literature from the UMass, Amherst. And in case you thought he was a one-trick pony, he has a lengthy essay in the current issue of MIT’s quarterly THE BAFFLER on the cultural, political and intellectual legacy of the Marquis de Sade.

hm 5/11/13