Transforming the Arab World’s Protection-Racket Politics

Abstract

In the Arab world, pact-making has proven painful and sometimes politically (if not literally) fatal. There are many reasons for this. Two particularly worth mentioning are the persistence of sharp identity conflicts in Arab societies, and the skill with which the Arab world’s “protection-racket” autocracies have played upon these tensions for so long. Where they have fallen, these autocracies have left behind a tricky dilemma: Groups that they once shielded remain significant but cannot win elections, while their rivals (who can win elections) wonder why they should make concessions to sure losers.

Case-based research on democratization

“…93 Process tracing can aid this task, but Brumberg is actually critical of what he calls "reading history backward," which tricks the scholar to "trace any particular turn of events during a transition to its apparently sufficient causation in some historical legacy or point of origin." 94 In fact, explicit process tracing is rarely used in the studies reviewed here. Hale presents a "processtracing paired comparison" of regime change in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.…”

Civil War, Economic Governance & State Reconstruction in the Arab Middle East

“…In all three, the authoritarian economic orders that existed prior to the onset of civil war-arrangements that government scholar Daniel Brumberg describes as "protection rackets"-undermine the claim that violent conflicts are the cause of predation, rent-seeking, and a disregard for the longterm requirements of economic and social development in what were previously well-governed economies. 19 Not only do wartime economic orders in Libya, Syria, and Yemen exhibit significant continuity with prewar practices, they also display striking similarities across areas of each country held by regime or opposition forces. To be sure, there are notable differences between the wartime economic orders that have emerged in areas under the control of regimes or recognized authorities and those in rebel-held territories.…”

Repression as a Double‐edged Sword: Resilient Monarchs, Repression and Revolution in the Arab World

“…Furthermore, current case studies give additional credibility to our conclusion. The revolution in Egypt is partly attributed to the harsh measures of the security forces (Brumberg : 90), and the civil war in Syria was fueled by mass defections from the army, as conscripts joined the resistance, appalled by the massive repression (Nepstad : 344‐345) The funerals of those killed by the regime became focal points for further protest, amplified by coverage in the social media (Hinnebusch : 109). The coverage about the funerals of friends and relatives, in turn increased the belief that “nobody was safe” anymore and motivated people to join the fighting ranks of the opposition.…”