A group of Arab Spring activists watch a voter checking his name on a voting list at an election station in Warsaw, Poland, as they observe the parliamentary elections to prepare for the upcoming elections Tunisia & Egypt, Oct. 9, 2011.
AP Photo

"Guest Editor's Forward"

Special Issue—The Arab Spring

Journal Article, Sharqiyya

Fall 2011

Author: Annie Tracy Samuel, Research Fellow, International Security Program

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security; Dubai Initiative

NOTE

Annie Tracy Samuel served as the guest editor of the Fall 2011 Special Issue of Sharqiyya, the English-language E-journal published bi-annually by the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University and the Middle East & Islamic Studies Association of Israel.  The issue contains five articles on the Arab Spring, as well as Tracy Samuel's editor's forward.

"The past year has been one of tremendous change in the Middle East and North Africa. The transformations that have come in the wake of momentous upheavals—now commonly known as the Arab Spring—have a wide and varying significance. For many people in the region, the past year has been one of daring, fearless action in pursuit of far-reaching political change. Their demands induced fear among the long-time, autocratic rulers, which has resulted either in the abdication of long-clung-to power or in brutal resistance and violence against masses of unarmed, pro-democracy protesters. World leaders have found themselves scrambling to protect various vital interests while struggling not to end up on the wrong side of history."

Continue reading: http://www.meisai.org.il/images/stories/sharqiyyafall2011.pdf

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Full text of this publication is available at:
http://www.meisai.org.il/images/stories/sharqiyyafall2011.pdf

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