The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life

Roger Owen

ISBN 10: 0674065832 / ISBN 13: 9780674065833

Published by Harvard University Press, 2012

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0674065832I4N00

Synopsis:

The monarchical presidential regimes that prevailed in the Arab world for so long looked as though they would last indefinitely - until events in Tunisia and Egypt made clear their time was up. "The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life" exposes for the first time the origins and dynamics of a governmental system that largely defined the Arab Middle East in the twentieth century. Presidents who rule for life have been a feature of the Arab world since independence. In the 1980s their regimes increasingly resembled monarchies as presidents took up residence in palaces and made every effort to ensure their sons would succeed them. Roger Owen explores the main features of the prototypical Arab monarchical regime: its household; its inner circle of corrupt cronies; and its attempts to create a popular legitimacy based on economic success, a manipulated constitution, managed elections, and information suppression. Why has the Arab world suffered such a concentration of permanent presidential government? Though post-Soviet Central Asia has also known monarchical presidencies, Owen argues that a significant reason is the 'Arab demonstration effect,' whereby close ties across the Arab world have enabled ruling families to share management strategies and assistance. But this effect also explains why these presidencies all came under the same pressure to reform or go. Owen discusses the huge popular opposition the presidential systems engendered during the Arab Spring, and the political change that ensued, while also delineating the challenges the Arab revolutions face across the Middle East and North Africa.

About the Author: Roger Owen is A. J. Meyer Professor of Middle East History at Harvard University.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication Date: 2012
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket