The Transition Towards Revolution and Reform ─ The Arab Spring Realised?

The Arab Spring created a transition toward democracy for the peoples of Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan, who initially elected moderate Islamist parties to lead them out of economic deprivation and corruption. This study looks at the relative success of the move to democracy in these four Middle Eastern countries, comparing the secular leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and their desire for revolution with the monarchs of Morocco and Jordan and their priority of reform. In contrast with the monarchs, the secular leaders avoided resort to the palliative of religion to ensure the stability of their rule and were, as a result, unable to survive.

Sonia L. Alianak is Associate Professor at the University of Texas -- Pan American.

Alianak is author of the 2007 book Middle Eastern Leaders and Islam: A Precarious Equilibrium, several articles and national presentations on Middle Eastern Politics. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (PhD), the American University of Beirut (MA), and the American University in Cairo (BA). She grew up in Egypt and is of Armenian origin.