Revolts and the Military in the Arab Spring : Popular Uprisings and the Politics of Repression
Sean Burns
- London : I.B.Taurus, c2018.
- xvii, 360 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
- Library of modern Middle East studies ; 199 .
- Library of modern Middle East studies ; .
Through detailed exploration of events in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Syria and Yemen, Sean Burns here breaks down the concept of professionalism within the armed forces into its component parts and demonstrates how variation in military structures determines their behavior. In so doing, and by emphasizing historical context and drawing on a wide range of political science theory, Burns sheds fresh light onto the ways in which military structure affects the potential for democratic transition or the course of the civil war. With this book, he presented a wide-ranging study of the Middle East which provides key tools to understanding the opportunities for democratization, both during the Arab Spring and beyond, and which is therefore essential reading for anyone working on the Middle East, popular uprisings and the politics of repression.