Saturday, August 18, 2018

The Arab Awakening: America and the Transformation of the Middle East (Saban Center at the Brookings Institution Books) 1st Edition by Kenneth M. Pollack (Author), Daniel L. Byman (Author), Akram Al-Turk (Author), Pavel Baev (Author), Michael S. Doran (Author), Khaled Elgindy (Author), Stephen R. Grand (Author), Shadi Hamid (Author), Bruce D. Jones (Author), Suzanne Maloney (Author), Jonathan D. Pollack (Author), Bruce Riedel (Author), Ruth Hanau Santini (Author), Salman Shaikh (Author), Ibrahim Sharqieh (Author), Ömer Taşpınar (Author), Shibley Telham (Author), Sarah E. Yerkes (Author) (Brookings Institution Press)



In early 2014, a lot of what can be found in this collectively authored can be fairly described as overtaken by events (OBE), but the overarching theme that populates the vast majority of these pages is one of caution. No one could have predicted the extent to which the Obama administration would withdraw from the region and leave a vacuum for countries like Russia and China to fill. It's probably a safe bet to assume that back in mid-2011, most people thought the U.S. would actually do something to influence events in Syria, so I won't play Monday morning quarterback in that regard.

This book is a snapshot that was assembled by a group of incredibly learned scholars at the most volatile time in the Middle East during the past 30 years easily. Three years since the start of those changes, this book still provides a wealth of insights into what happened in those early days, and what that will mean for the future.

Even the most seasoned Middle East observers were taken aback by the events of early 2011. Protests born of oppression and socioeconomic frustration erupted throughout the streets; public unrest provoked violent police backlash; long-established dictatorships fell. How did this all happen? What might the future look like, and what are the likely ramifications for the United States and the rest of the world? In The Arab Awakening, experts from the Brookings Institution tackle such questions to make sense of this tumultuous region that remains at the heart of U.S. national interests.

The first portion of The Arab Awakening offers broad lessons by analyzing key aspects of the Mideast turmoil, such as public opinion trends within the "Arab Street"; the role of social media and technology; socioeconomic and demographic conditions; the influence of Islamists; and the impact of the new political order on the Arab-Israeli peace process.

The next section looks at the countries themselves, finding commonalties and grouping them according to the political evolutions that have (or have not) occurred in each country. The section offers insight into the current situation, and possible trajectory of each group of countries, followed by individual nation studies.

The Arab Awakening brings the full resources of Brookings to bear on making sense of what may turn out to be the most significant geopolitical movement of this generation. It is essential reading for anyone looking to understand these developments and their consequences.

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