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| Acknowledgments | |
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| A Revolutionary Wave? | |
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| What is the Arab world? | |
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| How homogeneous is the Arab world? | |
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| Why do Arabs identify with one another? | |
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| What was political life in the Arab world like on the eve of the uprisings? | |
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| Why have authoritarian governments been so common in the Arab world? | |
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| What was the state of the economy in the Arab world on the eve of the uprisings? | |
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| What benefits did Arab regimes originally promise their populations? | |
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| Why and how did Arab regimes renege on the promises they had made to their populations? | |
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| How did the demography of the Arab states make them vulnerable to uprisings? | |
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| How did a food crisis make Arab states vulnerable to uprisings? | |
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| Why did populations wanting change in the Arab world have to take to the streets? | |
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| Can we pinpoint the factors that caused the uprisings? | |
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| What was the spark that ignited the Arab uprisings? | |
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| Where did the demands for democracy and human rights come from? | |
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| How appropriate is the word wave to describe the spread of protests throughout the Arab world? | |
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| Where did the phrase "Arab Spring" come from, and how appropriate is it to describe events in the Arab world? | |
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| The Beginning: Tunisia and Egypt | |
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| What characteristics do Tunisia and Egypt hold in common? | |
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| How entrenched were the autocracies ruling Tunisia and Egypt? | |
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| Were there political parties in Tunisia and Egypt? | |
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| How did the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt attempt to control their populations? | |
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| How widespread was corruption in Tunisia and Egypt? | |
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| How did the Tunisian uprising play out? | |
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| Was the uprising in Egypt like that of Tunisia? | |
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| What did protest leaders in Egypt learn from earlier protests there? | |
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| Why was one of the group that organized the January 25 protests called "We are all Khaled Said"? | |
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| What was the role of social media in the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings? | |
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| Who led the Egyptian uprising in Cairo? | |
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| Why did the Tahrir Square protesters and others adopt the tactic of nonviolent resistance? | |
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| What was the role of labor in the two uprisings? | |
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| What was the role of Islamic groups in the two uprisings? | |
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| Why did the armies in Tunisia and Egypt refuse to put down the uprisings? | |
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| What changes did the uprising in Tunisia bring about? | |
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| What changes did the uprising in Egypt bring about? | |
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| What are the ten greatest myths about the Egyptian uprising? | |
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| Uprisings in Weak States: Yemen and Libya | |
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| What did the political systems of Yemen and Libya have in common before the uprisings? | |
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| What was political life in Yemen like before the uprising there? | |
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| What was political life in Libya like before the uprising there? | |
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| Why do political scientists consider Yemen and Libya "weak states"? | |
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| Why is the fact that Yemen and Libya are weak states important for understanding the uprisings there? | |
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| What role have tribes played in Yemen and Libya? | |
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| How did the uprising in Yemen evolve? | |
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| How did the uprising in Libya begin? | |
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| Was Qaddafi crazy, or crazy like a fox? | |
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| Why did the uprisings in Yemen and Libya turn violent? | |
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| Who were the "rebels" in Libya? | |
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| Why did outside powers intervene directly in Libya and not in Yemen? | |
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| What is "R2P"? | |
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| Why is al-Qaeda in Yemen? | |
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| What are the fissures in Yemen and Libya that might divide them in the future? | |
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| Two Surprises: Algeria and Syria | |
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| Why did events in Algeria and Syria surprise most experts? | |
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| Why did observers believe that after Tunisia, Algeria would be next? | |
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| What were the Algerian protests of early 2011 like? | |
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| Why did the results of the uprising in Algeria differ from those in Tunisia and Egypt? | |
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| Did Algeria ever experience a pro-democracy uprising? | |
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| Why was the Syrian uprising a surprise? | |
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| How did the uprising in Syria begin? | |
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| How has the Syrian regime responded to the uprising? | |
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| What made the Syrian regime vulnerable? | |
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| What made the Syrian regime so resilient? | |
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| Who is the opposition in Syria? | |
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| Why have foreign powers treated Bashar al-Assad with kid gloves? | |
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| What would happen to the Syrian alliance with Iran should Bashar al-Assad's regime fall? | |
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| The Monarchies | |
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| Why are there so many monarchies in the Arab world? | |
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| Why did Morocco retain its king? | |
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| How did the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan come to be? | |
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| What was the origin of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? | |
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| What was the British role in creating Gulf monarchies? | |
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| Why have so many monarchies in the Arab world endured? | |
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| How has oil affected the stability of Arab monarchies? | |
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| How have ethnic and sectarian divisions affected the stability of Arab monarchies? | |
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| Does monarchical rule inhibit development of political institutions? | |
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| What were the demands of protesters in the Arab monarchies? | |
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| Who were the protesters in the Arab monarchies? | |
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| How did Arab monarchs react to protests? | |
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| How did the uprising in Bahrain differ from uprisings in other monarchies? | |
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| How have the uprisings transformed the Gulf Cooperation Council? | |
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| What might Bahrain's experience with a "national dialogue" tell us about future national dialogues in the Arab world? | |
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| Stepping Back | |
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| Was George W. Bush right? | |
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| How did the United States come up with its policy toward the uprisings? | |
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| Whatever happened to Iraq? | |
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| Have the uprisings strengthened or weakened al-Qaeda? | |
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| What was the state of the Israel-Palestine conflict at the time of the first uprisings? | |
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| What effects have the uprisings had on the Israel-Palestine conflict so far? | |
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| How has Iran greeted the uprisings? | |
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| What can history tell us about "revolutionary waves"? | |
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| When will we be able to judge the significance of the Arab uprisings? | |
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| What conclusions might we draw from the uprisings so far? | |
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| Notes | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Websites | |
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| Index | |