Reconstructing the Middle East: Political and Economic Policy

It is clear by now that the label ‘Arab Spring’ has proven too simplistic to describe the uprisings that upended the political order of the Arab world in late 2010. Brutal crackdowns and civil conflict in Syria, Libya, and Yemen dashed the hopes that peaceful democratic revolutions would sweep the region. In other countries, the departure of authoritarian leaders led to many false starts without producing democratic conclusions. Societies that had appeared united in opposition suddenly seem...