Political parties in MENA : their functions and development

This article provides an overview of the development of parties and party systems in the MENA region from early oligarchic pluralism to the mass single-party systems of the populist era and the limited multi-party experiments of the 1990s era of political liberalization. The survey shows how parties develop in parallel with the deepening of politicization and become nearly indispensable adjuncts in the construction of political order. The article then examines parties in the post-2010 period, with case studies of Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia demonstrating how very different configurations of party development dramatically impact on regime trajectories, ranging from democratization to hybrid regimes.PostprintPeer reviewe

Back to the future : the Arab uprisings and state (re)formation in the Arab world

This article contributes to debates that aim to go beyond the “democratization” and “post-democratization” paradigms to understand change and continuity in Arab politics. In tune with calls to focus on the actualities of political dynamics, the article shows that the literatures on State Formation and Contentious Politics provide useful theoretical tools to understand change/continuity in Arab politics. It does so by examining the impact of the latest Arab uprisings on state formation trajectories in Iraq and Syria. The uprisings have aggravated a process of regime erosion – which originated in post-colonial state-building attempts – by mobilizing sectarian and ethnic identities and exposing the counties to geo-political rivalries and intervention, giving rise to trans-border movements, such as ISIS. The resulting state fragmentation has obstructed democratic transition in Syria and constrained its consolidation in Iraq.PostprintPeer reviewe

Party and Peasant in Syria

This study represents a first and very preliminary attempt to describe the development of rural policies and structures and their consequences in Syria under the Ba\u27th regime. The analysis pretends to no conceptual or methodological sophistication. Its basic limitation derives from the research method employed, entailing heavy dependence on a program of official interviews and village field trips undertaken by the writer with the cooperation of the Ba\u27th party authorities within a limited period of time (one year

Party activists in syria and egypt

Using data from questionnaires given to Bath activists in Syria and Wafd activists in Egypt, this article examines the character of political activism in Third World authoritarian regimes. Both class and ideology appear to be significant determinants of the party chosen for participation. A complex set of motivational considerations rooted in personal and primordial relationships is often found to blend and coexist with class and ideological interests. Autonomous and publicly purposive political activism is possible under such regimes, albeit over a narrower range of concerns than in electoral democ racies.</p

ASAD'S SYRIA AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER:The Struggle for Regime Survival

Examines the Asad regime's attempts to adapt itself to the end of the Cold Wa

Political parties in the Arab state:Libya, Syria, Egypt

Competitive party systems are virtually non-existent in the Arab world, reflecting the rulers' preoccupation with concentration of power and a still limited level of social and political mobilisation, at which pressures for its diffusion can still be absorbed by a single, or failing that, a dominant party system. Libya's no-party system under Qaddafi, the Syria's Ba'th single party system and Egypt's dominant party system are examined. </p

Does Syria want peace? Syrian policy in the Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations

By examining geopolitical factors, Hafiz al-Asad's overall political goals and strategies, his domestic and international constraints, and the evolution of his policies on peace with Israel, the author argues that Syria has always sought a just peace based on return of the Golan. The author is pessimistic, however, that the new Israeli government under Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu will accept such a settlement.</p