Will there be a counter-revolution this time?
by Gilbert Achcar
The seasons after the Arab Spring
Revolt if not revolution in Sudan and Algeria: is this the next phase of a profound change in the Arab world? The uprisings haven’t repeated the mistakes of 2011.
LONG READ FEATURE ARTICLE
BACKGROUNDER AND UPDATER
THIS IS AN EXCERPT
Images of popular protests that recall the revolutionary movement of 2011 have dominated news fromI the Arabic-speaking world for months. Uprisings began in Sudan on 19 December and in Algeria with the marches of Friday 22 February. They revived memories of the huge, peaceful demonstrations early in the Arab Spring that shook Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Syria.
Commentators have been more cautious this time, asking questions rather than commenting directly, mindful of the bitter disappointment that followed their initial euphoria over the Arab Spring. The repression of the 2011 uprising in Bahrain, crushed after only a few weeks with the help of the other oil monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), could have been the exception, given the unique characteristics of that club of states. But two years later the region entered a counter-revolutionary phase, with a new chain reaction going the other way. Bashar al-Assad launched a new offensive in Syria in spring 2013 with the help of Iran and its regional allies. Then came the army-backed establishment of a repressive regime in Egypt, and the return to power of members of Tunisia’s ousted government; in Cairo and Tunis, forces linked to the Muslim Brotherhood hijacked the initial revolutionary impetus. Emboldened by 2013’s developments, remnants of the former regimes in Libya and Yemen formed opportunistic alliances with groups that had jumped on the bandwagon of the revolution and shared their hostility to the Muslim Brotherhood. Their attempts to take power by force ended in civil war. Enthusiasm gave way to melancholy in the ‘Arab Winter’ as the totalitarian terrorist enterprise ISIS gained a foothold. Though this latest avatar of Al-Qaida was eventually crushed in Iraq and Syria (groups operating under the same franchise remain active in Libya, the Sinai peninsula and outside the Arab-speaking world), other counter-revolutionary forces remain on the offensive. The Assad clan continues its reconquest of most of Syria’s territory with the help of Russia and Iran. In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi’s despotic regime, careless of the potential impact of rebellions in Sudan and Algeria, has adopted a constitutional amendment that allows him to remain in power until 2030 (1). READ ON https://mondediplo.com/2019/06/05sudan ALSO SEE SUDAN CRISIS Gilbert Achcar is professor of development studies and international relations at SOAS, University of London. His publications include Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising, Stanford University Press/Saqi Books, 2016
BOOK LAUNCH: Morbid Symptoms by Gilbert Achcar | Saqi Books www.saqibooks.com/2016/09/book-launch-morbid-symptoms-gilbert-achcar/ 4 October 2016. Event to mark the publication of Gilbert Achcar's Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising. Since the first wave of uprisings in 2011, the euphoria of the “Arab Spring” has given way to ... Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at SOAS, University of London.
Professor Gilbert Achcar | Staff | SOAS University of London https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff30529.php Professor of Development Studies and International Relations ... of the Arab Uprising (2013); and Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (2016).
By Gilbert Achcar جلبير الأشقر - Jadaliyya www.jadaliyya.com/Author/4707 Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International ... His recent books include The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World ... New Texts Out Now: Gilbert Achcar, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising ... the Arab Uprising (Stanford: Stanford University Press and London: Saqi, 2016).
Gilbert Achcar | The Nation https://www.thenation.com/authors/gilbert-achcar/ Gilbert Achcar is a professor at SOAS, University of London. His many books include The Clash of Barbarisms (2002, 2006); Perilous Power: The Middle East. ... and US Foreign Policy, co-authored with Noam Chomsky (2007); The Arabs ... recently, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (2016).
The seasons after the Arab Spring
Revolt if not revolution in Sudan and Algeria: is this the next phase of a profound change in the Arab world? The uprisings haven’t repeated the mistakes of 2011.
LONG READ FEATURE ARTICLE
BACKGROUNDER AND UPDATER
THIS IS AN EXCERPT
Commentators have been more cautious this time, asking questions rather than commenting directly, mindful of the bitter disappointment that followed their initial euphoria over the Arab Spring. The repression of the 2011 uprising in Bahrain, crushed after only a few weeks with the help of the other oil monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), could have been the exception, given the unique characteristics of that club of states. But two years later the region entered a counter-revolutionary phase, with a new chain reaction going the other way. Bashar al-Assad launched a new offensive in Syria in spring 2013 with the help of Iran and its regional allies. Then came the army-backed establishment of a repressive regime in Egypt, and the return to power of members of Tunisia’s ousted government; in Cairo and Tunis, forces linked to the Muslim Brotherhood hijacked the initial revolutionary impetus. Emboldened by 2013’s developments, remnants of the former regimes in Libya and Yemen formed opportunistic alliances with groups that had jumped on the bandwagon of the revolution and shared their hostility to the Muslim Brotherhood. Their attempts to take power by force ended in civil war. Enthusiasm gave way to melancholy in the ‘Arab Winter’ as the totalitarian terrorist enterprise ISIS gained a foothold. Though this latest avatar of Al-Qaida was eventually crushed in Iraq and Syria (groups operating under the same franchise remain active in Libya, the Sinai peninsula and outside the Arab-speaking world), other counter-revolutionary forces remain on the offensive. The Assad clan continues its reconquest of most of Syria’s territory with the help of Russia and Iran. In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi’s despotic regime, careless of the potential impact of rebellions in Sudan and Algeria, has adopted a constitutional amendment that allows him to remain in power until 2030 (1). READ ON https://mondediplo.com/2019/06/05sudan ALSO SEE SUDAN CRISIS Gilbert Achcar is professor of development studies and international relations at SOAS, University of London. His publications include Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising, Stanford University Press/Saqi Books, 2016
BOOK LAUNCH: Morbid Symptoms by Gilbert Achcar | Saqi Books www.saqibooks.com/2016/09/book-launch-morbid-symptoms-gilbert-achcar/ 4 October 2016. Event to mark the publication of Gilbert Achcar's Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising. Since the first wave of uprisings in 2011, the euphoria of the “Arab Spring” has given way to ... Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at SOAS, University of London.
Professor Gilbert Achcar | Staff | SOAS University of London https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff30529.php Professor of Development Studies and International Relations ... of the Arab Uprising (2013); and Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (2016).
By Gilbert Achcar جلبير الأشقر - Jadaliyya www.jadaliyya.com/Author/4707 Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International ... His recent books include The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World ... New Texts Out Now: Gilbert Achcar, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising ... the Arab Uprising (Stanford: Stanford University Press and London: Saqi, 2016).
Gilbert Achcar | The Nation https://www.thenation.com/authors/gilbert-achcar/ Gilbert Achcar is a professor at SOAS, University of London. His many books include The Clash of Barbarisms (2002, 2006); Perilous Power: The Middle East. ... and US Foreign Policy, co-authored with Noam Chomsky (2007); The Arabs ... recently, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (2016).
