In the aftermath of the turmoil that shook North Africa in late 2010 and early 2011, commentators and analysts have sought explanations to the factors that triggered the uprisings and to understand why a region, seemingly characterized by relative stability for decades, would suddenly erupt in convulsions. Had an underlying dynamism in the region overwhelmed what were ostensibly stable authoritarian regimes? What were the connections to events and dynamics beyond the region, such as countries in the Middle East, international commodity markets, and environmental factors, amongst others? Why had allies abetted authoritarianism for so long, and what were the implications for such alliances? North African Politics: Change and continuity brings together experts to explore these questions, providing in-depth analyses of important developments in the region, which build upon and complement the 2008 companion volume, North Africa: Politics, Region and the Limits of Transformation. This 21-chapter volume is a key contribution that responds to the need in the Anglo-American sphere for sustained, critical studies on North Africa and examines political, economic, security, social and military aspects of the region. Focused studies on individual countries allow detailed discussion of regional factors. The book also examines extrinsic, trans-regional dynamics, such as North Africa’s influential interdependencies with the Levant and the Gulf, Europe, Sahelian and sub-Saharan Africa, and North America. Its innovative approach provides new perspectives on North Africa, extending its research scope to include Egypt and exploring China’s evolving role in the region. Providing an important contribution in the assessment of the ever-shifting political and social tectonics within and beyond North Africa, North African Politics is an essential resource for students, scholars and policy makers in Middle Eastern and North African Studies, and beyond.

This book takes predominant crowd theory to task, questioning received ideas about ‘mob psychology’ that remain prevalent today. It is a synchronic study of crowds, crowd dynamics and the relationships of crowds to political power in Tunisia, Libya and Algeria (2011-2013) that has far reaching implications embedded in its thesis. One central theme of the book is gender, providing an in-depth look at women’s participation in the recent uprisings and crowds of 2011-2013 and the subsequent gender-related aspects of political transitions. The book also focuses on the social and political dynamics of tribalism and group belonging (‘asabiyya), including analysis and discussions with Libyan regional tribal chiefs, Libyan and Tunisian tribal members and citizens regarding their notions of tribal belonging. Crowd language and literature are also central to the book’s discussion of how crowds represent themselves, how we as observers represent crowds, and how crowds confront languages of authoritarianism and subjugation. Crowds and Politics in North Africa includes interviews with crowd participants and key civil society actors from Tunisia, Libya and Algeria. Among these, there are numerous interviews with Benghazi residents, activists and tribal leaders. One of the original case studies in the book is the crowd dynamics during and after the attack on the US consular installation in Benghazi, Libya. The book presents interviews and fieldwork within a literary and cultural theoretical context showing how crowds in the region resonate in forms of cultural resistance to authoritarianism. A valuable resource, this book will be of use to students and scholars with an interest in North African culture, society and politics more broadly.

A decade since the eruption of Arab Spring protests in the Middle East and North Africa, the region continues to confront the primary causes of the popular disenchantment including economic deprivation, bad governance, corruption and limited avenues for political expression. Democratisation, the buzzword in 2011 has given way to debates around conflict management and resolution. Simultaneously, there are mounting economic challenges throughout the region that have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But there are some silver linings such as a focus on reforms, greater scrutiny against corruption, demand for better governance, and awareness regarding women empowerment and rights of minorities. The volume, Politics of Change in the Middle East and North Africa since Arab Spring: A Lost Decade?, commemorates the ten years of the eruption of Arab Spring protests. It captures some of the prevailing political, economic, strategic and social issues in MENA through thematic or country-specific essays that explore the ongoing transformations and underline how despite the hopelessness, the MENA societies have made progress on various fronts. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan).

The overthrow of the regime of President Ben Ali in Tunisia on 14 January 2011 took the world by surprise. The popular revolt in this small Arab country and the effect it had on the wider Arab world prompted questions as to why there had been so little awareness of it up until that point. It also revealed a more general lack of knowledge about the surrounding western part of the Arab world, or the Maghreb, which had long attracted a tiny fraction of the outside interest shown in the eastern Arab world of Egypt, the Levant and the Gulf. This book examines the politics of the three states of the central Maghreb--Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco--since their achievement of independence from European colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s. It explains the political dynamics of the region by looking at the roles played by the military, political parties and Islamist movements and addresses factors such as Berber identity and economics, as well as how the states of the region interact with each other and with the wider world.

This book’s ambition is to offer the most recent scholarship on North African cultures at a time when the very notion of culture is being re-evaluated in the shifting tides that both associate and divorce the forces of nationalism, globalism and neo-liberalism. Another ambition is to be a readable document about the past and the potential of North African civilizations. Those which have been crystallized into a polysemic voice from centuries of occupations, exchanges and what is now commonly called hybridizations. In this work the collective position of the authors, with their different fields of experience, is that the languages, musics, and the many expressions of common life in North Africa continue to flourish. That they are a bridge between sub-Saharan peoples and Europe. That they are a necessary antidote to the anemic political discourses that have prevailed since decolonization. That they are seminal for the future of the African continent as it begins its true voyage into democracy. It is difficult, at this juncture, to measure the distance that, in the decades to come, will be achieved on that voyage. It is, however, less difficult to evaluate the importance of North Africa on tomorrow’s world. If the past is an indicator, it will be an important force in the cross-flow of trade, ideas and of global destinies.

The existence of human rights helps secure the peace, deter aggression, promote the rule of law, combat crime and corruption, and prevent humanitarian crises. These human rights include freedom from torture, freedom of expression, press freedom, women's rights, children's rights, and the protection of minorities. This book surveys the countries of the Near East and North Africa, and is augmented by a current bibliography and useful indexes by subject, title and author.

Mediterranean Politics is a new yearbook providing a major new perspective on European Union events, contemporary trends, and developments in the region during the previous year.

This book examines the political activities of selected religious actors in Christian, Muslim and Judaist contexts in Europe and the Middle East. It explores the challenges these religious actors face in terms of citizenship, democracy, and secularisation.

This rich collection brings together many of the leading authorities on African political philosophy to present a variety of perspectives on this rapidly growing field. They seek to show that African philosophy can serve African people as a moral activity guided by the principles of practical reason in addressing problems of the basic structures of social, political, and economic institutions.