ABSTRACT
Does the Arab Spring provide a new opening for Western cooperation with the Middle East? The Arab Spring involved a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests in the Arab world, starting on 18 December 2010, which forced rulers, at least partially, from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Egypt, however, has since seen a reactionary movement re-establishing military power to the prerevolutionary state. Additional uprisings occurred also in Bahrain and Syria, the latter escalating into full-scale civil war. A number of other countries have also seen serious protests, ranging from Algeria, Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait to Morocco. It is particularly noteworthy that the fallout from the war in Libya has had side effects for a simmering rebellion in Mali, where it appears that al-Qaeda is establishing itself in the north of the country. The European Union (EU) has been concerned about such an eventuality in the Sahel for some time. While some observers have drawn comparisons between the Arab Spring and the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe, the precise endpoint and the direction of the Arab Spring revolutions remain to be identified. In short, the Arabworld currently faces a period of social protest and change, which challenges our understanding of politics in the region and established assumptions about Western foreign policy towards this region.
