Adaptable autocrats : regime power in Egypt and Syria / Joshua Stacher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stacher, Joshua, 1975- author.

Series:

Stanford studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic societies and cultures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Authoritarianism.

Dictatorship.

Egypt--Politics and government--1981-2011.

Egypt.

Politics and government.

Syria--Politics and government--2000-.

Syria.

Dictatorship--Egypt.

Dictatorship--Syria.

Authoritarianism--Egypt.

Authoritarianism--Syria.

Comparative government.

Physical Description:

xiv, 221 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2012.

Summary:

The decades' long resilience of Middle Eastern regimes meant that few anticipated the 2011 Arab Spring. To better understand the course of events across the region, we must take a closer look at how regimes have responded and adapted to challenges to their power. Contrasting Egypt and Syria, this book takes a novel approach to studying important patterns and differences in authoritarian rule.

Egypt's uprising has been comparatively less violent than Syria's protracted stalemate. Examining how power is structured in each country, Joshua Stacher shows how the uprisings and outcomes have been shaped by pre-existing power configurations, allowing certain autocratic systems to adapt more easily than others. Though Mubarak relinquished the presidency while Asad has remained in power, both countries are arriving at a similar outcome-continuity for those in power. Power structures, elite alliances, state institutions and governing practices are seldom swept away entirely-even following successful revolutions-so it is vital that we examine the various contexts for regime survival to understand ongoing events in the Middle East. Book jacket.

Contents:

Debating authoritarianism

The origins of executive authority

Adaptation and elite co-optation

Adaptation and nonelite co-optation

The 2011 uprisings and the future of autocratic adaptation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780804780629

0804780625

9780804780636

0804780633

OCLC:

764360957