An objective of this study is to shed light on how states, as parts of an international community, behave under certain circumstances, and how the interaction between them affects political outcomes on the international stage. This investigation makes particular reference to the case of the Arab Spring, a wave of uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region that in some parts culminated in regime change and political transformation. Keeping this particular objective in mind, this book focuses on how, for instance, intergovernmental organizations , major powers and regional actors responded to the Arab Spring.
This edited volume aims at offering a better understanding of how international society (as a collection of significant actors including major states and intergovernmental institutions) dealt with this important political and social development. From this perspective, the volume will contribute to analysis of regional and global politics and describe the current shape and outlook of global politics. It is acknowledged that the world was unprepared for the popular unrest (later labeled the Arab Spring) in the Middle East in 2011.1 Rigorous debates and analyses have tried to explain the root causes of the uprisings and the dynamics behind the awakening. However, the question of how the world (especially what is called, as a social construct, the international community ) responded to the Arab Spring has remained unanswered. The volume seeks to fill this gap by making a contribution to the existing literature in the form of an analysis of foreign policy.
Largely because of its popular support and its potential impact upon state–society relations, the Arab Spring has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention. Students of international relations (IR), area studies, political science and sociology have been engaged with this reasonably innovative approach to protest and activism. Political scientists and IR scholars have, for the most part, evaluated the “Spring” from a realpolitik perspective, analyzing its potential impacts upon interstate relations and regional affairs. A comprehensive work of this kind is a collection of articles previously published in Foreign Affairs magazine (Foreign Affairs, 2011). A similar collection of Foreign Policy articles and commentaries followed suit (Lynch, Glasser, & Hounshell, 2011). Understandably, some accounts pay attention to the impacts of the popular revolts upon democratization in the Arab world, particularly the empowerment of women in the political domain (see, for instance, Ahmari & Weddady, 2012; Olimat, 2013a; Panara & Wilson, 2013).
In addition to accounts focusing on the linkage between Islamism and the Arab Spring (Bradley, 2012), a vast literature has been dedicated to studying the Arab Spring from a social movements theory perspective, with particular emphasis upon the role of social and digital media and civil society (see, for instance, Çakmak, 2016; Howard & Hussain, 2013; Roberts, Willis, McCarthy, & Ash, 2016). A number of works, on the other hand, analyze individual policies of states, regional or intergovernmental organizations (see, for instance, Althani, 2012; Olimat, 2013b; Peters, 2012; Ulrichsen, 2014). Others emphasize broader implications, including how the Arab Spring impacted upon the way international politics is redefined and reinterpreted (see, for instance, Dabashi, 2012; Mason, 2016; Salamey, 2017).
What the Arab Spring literature lacks, however, is an assessment of the response from the world community as a social and political construct of states and intergovernmental organizations to the protests and popular movements in this particular period and this particular region of the world. Conventional IR scholarship (both Realist and Liberal theories and their variations) tend to approach the actors of international politics as separate units of analysis, seemingly suggesting that though they interact each other in complex forms, they exist and survive by way of self-emergence. More recent and contemporary approaches, on the other hand, rely on perspectives referring to the abilities of these actors to create norms through these interactions and intricate relations and to form a political order of their own, which eventually leads to both legal and moral obligations for the entire community as well as the individual actors.
An analysis of a phenomenon such as the Arab Spring, by virtue of involving a wide range of political and social actors, requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond the necessary calculation of national interests and power politics. For this reason, an assessment of individual foreign policies on the Arab Spring lacks analytical adequacy and consistency. Contributions to this edited volume address this inadequacy and seek to offer, as a collection of chapters, answers to several vital questions about how to explain the Arab Spring and its potential outcomes.
An emphasis on the concept of world (or international ) community (or society) is justified by the growing significance of the study of global governance in the IR literature. The term refers to a collective (but decentralized) effort involving a diverse set of actors to address transnational problems that individual states are unable to tackle. Given worldwide interest in the political affairs of the MENA region and its oil resources, as well as the potential impact of a state of instability upon the course of events in the rest of the world, it is reasonable to consider any serious development as a concern for the world community , which has virtually been attributed responsibility for maintaining global governance.
In a broader sense, this responsibility entails both legal and moral obligations, indicating that states and intergovernmental organizations , central elements of global governance, have a different motive for reacting other than their own self-interest. As such, there should be a convincing explanation as to why members of the world community react; other relevant questions will include how and under what conditions these reactions and responses might be observed. The UN’s response is considered particularly important because it is the centerpiece of global governance. As Çakmak (Chap. 2) explains, the UN usually reacts when an uprising or upheaval turns into a humanitarian challenge or when a risk of instability threatens international peace and security. For the UN to act on the principle of “responsibility to protect ” (R2P), any humanitarian crisis should have received extensive recognition and acceptance by the international community. Çakmak argues that the UN did not consider the Arab Spring, as a whole, a matter of urgency that required concerted action by the international community.
The EU , given that its immediate neighbor is the MENA , is an important case as it dedicates itself to promoting democracy and democratic values, not only within its borders but also beyond them. Özçelik (Chap. 3) examines the EU’s role and discusses whether it approached the situation from a realpolitik perspective as a way of reflecting its member states’ interests, or acted to promote normative values as part of the world community . His argument suggests that the EU , prioritizing the realist interests of its members, could manage to fulfill its normative goals, which largely depend on the characteristics of the targeted state. Dalar (Chap. 4) focuses on the role of another intergovernmental organization, the African Union (AU), during the Arab Spring and demonstrates that the AU took an active role from the beginning. However, in the course of time, the efficacy of the AU’s democracy promotion structure has gradually been hampered. A slightly different example showing the role of international organizations is taken up by Munawar (Chap. 5). Within the context of cultural heritage and the Arab Spring, Munawar reviews international responses towards safeguarding cultural heritage in the areas of conflict, particularly Syria and Iraq. Akkaya (Chap. 6) examines the position of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) vis-à-vis the Arab Spring, focusing on its inherent deficits for addressing a regional problem for which it was originally set up.
The response of the major powers to the Arab Spring should be considered relevant because of their perceived responsibility in international politics. The permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain and France) in particular assume greater responsibility by their leverage in interstate relations and their disproportionate impact in the making of binding resolutions focused on the preservation of international peace and security. Undoubtedly, the stance of the United States is of great importance to understand how it shapes the actions of the world community . Çakmak (Chap. 7) examines the sound analysis available of American foreign policy toward the Arab Spring. In so doing, he discusses whether America has regained its image as a normative contributor to the world community and a promoter of multilateralism which it lost in the Iraq Wa...