Military Politics of the Contemporary Arab World

Aside from large-scale civic mobilisations, no force was more critical to the outcomes of the 2011 Arab uprisings than the armed forces. Nearly a decade after these events, we see militaries across the region in power, once again performing critical roles in state politics. Taking as a point of reference five case studies where uprisings took place in 2011, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria, Philippe Droz-Vincent explores how these armies were able to install themselves for decades under enduring authoritarian regimes, how armies reacted to the 2011 Uprisings, and what role they played in the post-Uprising regime re-formations or collapses. Devoting a chapter to monarchical armies with a special focus on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Droz-Vincent addresses whether monarchies radically differ from republics, to compare the foundational role of Arab armies in state building, in the Arab world and beyond.

Introduction; 1. The surge of armies in Arab states; 2. Changing dynamics with the rise of authoritarian regimes; 3. Armies living under enduring authoritarian regimes: the officer as an (influential) bureaucrat; 4. Are Arab monarchies different?; 5. Agency restored? Uprisings, surprise, army intervention and abyssal challenges ahead; 6. Post-uprising eras and regime (tentative) re-formations; Conclusion. Arab armies once again at the forefront.

Philippe Droz-Vincent is Professor of Political Science in Sciences-Po Grenoble, France. He has written widely on Arab political regimes, authoritarianism, armies and American foreign policy in the Middle East. He is the author of The Middle East: Authoritarian Regimes and Stalled Societies (2004), Dizziness of Power: The American Moment in the Middle East (2007) in French and numerous articles in journals including The Middle East Journal, The International Spectator and International Journal of Middle East Studies.