Review: David A. McMurray, Amanda Ufheil-Somers, (eds.), The Arab Revolts: Dispatches on Militant Democracy in the Middle East, Bloomington Indiana University Press

David A. McMurray, Amanda Ufheil-Somers, eds.  The Arab Revolts: Dispatches on Militant Democracy in the Middle East.  Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2013.  ix + 260 pp.  $80.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-253-00968-5; $28.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-253-00975-3.

Reviewed by Denise Jenison (Kent State University)
Published on H-Empire (September, 2013)
Commissioned by Charles V. Reed

The Roots of the Arab Spring

When he set himself on fire on December 17, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi
could not have known that his individual protest would launch a wave
of demonstrations that eventually removed a number of long-standing
dictators and seriously challenged others. The Arab Spring quickly
spread from Tunisia, the site of Bouazizi’s protests against official
harassment and corruption, to Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, and
Yemen. In association with the Middle East Research and Information
Project (MERIP), the contributors to _The Arab Revolts: Dispatches on
Militant Democracy in the Middle East_ do an excellent job of filling
in some of the gaps in Western media coverage, going beyond the
dominant narrative of spontaneous youthful protests, aided by the use
of social media, to show a foundation of protest built over decades.
The use of the phrase «Arab Revolts» rather than «the Arab Spring»
for the title provides an insight into the purpose and scope of the
book. Contrary to popular belief, the authors demonstrate that the
protests of the Arab Spring were not spontaneous, unprecedented
youthful uprisings, but rather were built on decades of protests and
strikes against regimes that oversaw an increasing disparity between
the prosperous elite and the majority of the population.

_The Arab Revolts_ provides insights and background on five recent
revolutions and uprisings: Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain.
Each section follows the same general pattern: a brief introduction
to the country, its leadership, and the recent protests; an opening
article covering the Arab Spring uprising in that country; coverage
of earlier decades to provide historical context for the discontent;
and a concluding analysis of where things stood at the time of
publication. For example, Francesco Cavatorta and Rikke Hostrup
Haugbølle’s article, «Beyond Ghannouchi: Islamism and Social Change
in Tunisia,» analyzes the reasons behind the electoral victories of
al-Nahda, an Islamist party. Acknowledging the common list of reasons
for al-Nahda’s success (its organization, especially compared to
other parties; its long history; its campaign promises), the authors
argue that these often come up short when studied in more depth.
Rather, Cavatorta and Haugbølle propose that the reason for the
rising identification with religious political parties was the fact
that religion was a way to rebel against former president Ben Ali’s
secularization. Wearing the veil, for instance, served as a form of
political protest, not just personal piety. The authors remind
readers that it is too early to draw sweeping conclusions about what
this election means and that only time will tell how this infusion of
new members, with new ideas, will influence parties and organizations
like al-Nahda.The essays in _The Arab Revolts_ originally appeared in
_Middle East Report_, and the international group of authors comes
from a variety of institutions, disciplines, and professions
(primarily journalism, history, and political science). This
diversity gives the book a number of strengths. While each country’s
section follows the same structure, there are a few unique areas of
focus. For example, Donatella Della Ratta’s article, «Dramas of the
Authoritarian State,» examines the creation, production, and
distribution of Syrian television dramas that often reflect
contemporary events, including protests and demonstrations. It is an
interesting examination of the role of media in the Arab protests
that goes beyond the traditional discussion of social media and
analyzes the way media and state negotiate their relationship. Other
authors focus on the efforts of women, as well as how their work is
interpreted in the West. Stacey Philbrick Yadav raises an important
question concerning the way Western society categorizes Arab women
activists, looking at the specific example of Tawakkul Karman’s work
in Yemen. Karman won the Nobel Peace Prize, and the committee
highlighted her activities fighting for women’s rights. Karman,
however, does not specify women as the beneficiaries of her work, but
instead says she fights for the rights of all Yemenis. Yet the
dominant Western narrative appears to be that if women in the Middle
East are politically active, it must follow that they are interested
only in women’s rights.

Another benefit to the journalistic style of the articles is the
accessibility it provides to a wide audience interested in a deeper
understanding of the current situation in the Arab world. This is not
a book written by academics for academics, but rather serves as an
introduction to readers from any background. The articles are
generally free from convoluted jargon or theoretical frameworks that
could otherwise limit potential readership. The authors tackle
complex problems, but present them in a way that is useful for
scholars, teachers, students, and general readers. Many articles also
challenge the dominant narrative of sectarian conflict and religious
extremism among protestors, documenting the secular origins of the
revolts (tracing back to decades of demonstrations and actions over
economic and security issues) and the communal and intersectarian
nature of the protests. Though the United States is only a peripheral
actor in the essays, numerous authors demonstrate how U.S. foreign
policy, particularly regarding the War on Terror, helped support many
of the regimes in question. A number also show how many of those
leaders (particularly Yemen’s former president ‘Ali ‘Abdallah Salih)
used U.S. fears of terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda and its
regional affiliates, to maintain such support and demonize the
opposition. The notable exception is Syrian president Bashar al-Asad.
As Carsten Wieland points out, unlike leaders in Egypt, Tunisia, and
Yemen, Asad has «no pact with the US or Israel, keeping him close to
public opinion on regional issues» (p. 162). This helps explain why
Asad continues to maintain stronger support in Syria than any of the
other leaders managed in their respective countries, though whether
he will be able to maintain that support remains to be seen.

While _The Arab Revolts_ does a number of things right, there are a
few things that could be improved. One of the book’s strengths is the
fact that it provides greater context for the current situation in
the Middle East and North Africa than is present in Western news
coverage. It is missing a very significant event, though: the
overthrow of Qaddafi’s regime in Libya. The editors briefly explain
at the end of the introduction that this omission is due to the
limited research academics or journalists could conduct under
Qaddafi’s rule. As a result, the editors felt that the same kind of
«bottom-up views of politics, society, and culture» that made up the
other sections were not possible for Libya and thus omitted it (p.
10). Though a reasonable explanation, this reviewer feels there is
still a place for a discussion of Libya, especially considering that,
as the editors point out, several authors did write articles on the
Libyan situation for _Middle East Report_. Libya remains unique
because of the NATO intervention, and it would be helpful to get a
better understanding of how that intervention has (or has not)
influenced the post-revolution situation. This insight would also be
important as the world continues to debate its response to the civil
war in Syria, but none of the authors references the Libyan
situation.

Secondly, it should be noted that since the book’s purpose is to give
background and context to the Arab Spring, readers should not expect
this to be exclusively about the events of 2010-11. The occupation of
Tahrir Square, the civil war in Syria, and the suppression of
protests in Bahrain are only parts of the story. In addition, though
articles may occasionally refer to the influences and impacts of
events in other parts of the Arab world (especially the catalyst of
Tunisia), they remain independent and thus do not include a great
deal of analytical comparison between the various countries and their
experiences.

Finally, the variety of authors (and their backgrounds) means that
there is a disparity in the academic trappings one might expect. Some
articles do not include any citations, while others have very few.
The volume contains no bibliography or suggestions for further
readings; likewise, because of the journalistic nature of the
articles, there is no discussion of the historiography, even in the
more history-centric chapters. A concluding essay providing a greater
transnational and comparative perspective would have been greatly
appreciated as well. None of these issues detract from the quality of
this book or its usefulness, but these points further reveal how this
book was designed for a broad audience.

The story of the Arab Spring is not over and continually changes.
Just in the course of writing this review, protests began in Turkey,
«red lines» were crossed in Syria, and the people of Egypt have once
again removed the head of state. _The Arab Revolts_ obviously cannot
predict the outcome of these situations, but it does an admirable job
of providing a solid foundation for understanding what has happened
and what may come.

Citation: Denise Jenison. Review of McMurray, David A.;
Ufheil-Somers, Amanda, eds., _The Arab Revolts: Dispatches on
Militant Democracy in the Middle East_. H-Empire, H-Net Reviews.
September, 2013.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=39651

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License.