The essays in this edited volume seek to understand the regional and international ramifications of the wave of protest demonstrations that swept across West Asia and North Africa in the early 2010s, both on the ground and online. Dissatisfaction with political repression and corruption, economic difficulties and inequities, and a desire for freedom and democracy all played a role in the Arab Spring uprisings. It deposed long-standing dictatorships, ushering in a period of insecurity and instability that would have long-term consequences for the region's political economy and international relations. Although the protests have ended, the legacy of that turbulent era will live on, most notably in the acceleration of regional change and transformation.
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Acknowledgements
About the Contributors
Introduction
Mujib Alam and Sujata Ashwarya
1. After Summer May Come the Fall: The Enduring Dilemma of Popular Sovereignty in the Middle East
Kingshuk Chatterjee
2 Democratic Upsurge in the Arab World and India
Priyamvada A. Sawant
3 Sectarianism and Instability in Post-Arab SpringWest Asia
Mohmad Saleem Sheikh
4 The Syrian Crisis and Turkey’s Involvement
Özden Zeynep Oktav
5 The Syrian Crisis and its Implications for India
Sukalpa Chakrabarti
6 Civil War in Syria: Understanding the Chinese Response
Abu Zafar
7 Saudi Arabia After the Arab Spring: The Oil Era and Reforms
Vrushal T. Ghoble
8 Saudi State and the Crisis of Legitimacy
Umar Farooq
9 Public Spaces and the Arab Uprisings: Sites of Contention
Priya Singh
10 Spring in Arabic Literature amid the Turmoil in the Region
Md. Aftab Ahmad
11 Hezbollah and Regional Confrontation: The Arab Spring Context
Sujata Ashwarya and Mohmad Saleem Sheikh
12 Arab Spring and the French Revolution: The Longue Durée of Transformation
Adil Rasheed
Select Further Readings
Index
Biography
Mujib Alam, Professor, MMAJ Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
Sujata Ashwarya, Professor, Centre for West Asian Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
