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Overview"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." Full Product DetailsAuthor: Roger OwenPublisher: Harvard University Press Imprint: Harvard University Press Dimensions: Width: 14.00cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 21.00cm Weight: 0.268kg ISBN: 9780674735378ISBN 10: 0674735374 Pages: 282 Publication Date: 24 November 2014 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Professional & Vocational , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In stock  We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately. Table of ContentsReviewsAn accessible yet comprehensive review of the political history of the modern Middle East, made all the more relevant by the convulsions of the past year. Owen's dismantling of the Arab exceptionalism argument, which has formed the basis of so many accounts of authoritarian power in the region, is historically and sociologically persuasive. He successfully explains how countries with very different histories have nonetheless produced political systems with such strong resemblances. Thoughtful, full of nuance, and mercifully free of jargon, Owen's writing carries the reader along at a terrific pace, providing both the grand sweep of history and the focused perspicacity of political analysis.--Charles Tripp, author of The History of Iraq Author InformationRoger Owen was A. J. Meyer Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus, at Harvard University. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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