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Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren . The Battle for the Arab Spring: Revolution, Counter-Revolution and the Making of a New Era. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013. ix + 350 pages, notes, bibliography, index. Paper US$25.00 ISBN 978-0-300-18086-2.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2017

David Steltz*
Affiliation:
Virginia Tech
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Abstract

Type
Briefly Noted
Copyright
Copyright © Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc. 2017 

This book examines the Arab Spring revolutions that occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria. The first of the book's three sections discusses the catalysts of the Arab Spring movement. Noueihed and Warren discuss unemployment, political oppression, lack of opportunity, and a dissatisfied youth population as some of the factors. They also examine the role of increased technology usage in the Middle East—mainly for accessing diverse satellite television programs and social media websites like Twitter and Facebook—in allowing revolutionary ideas to grow in countries where censorship had historically been the norm. In the second section, the authors take a look at how the revolutions played out in the various countries. They explain that although the causes of the Arab Spring may have been similar, the differing political, social, economic, and religious environments, and variable foreign interests in each of the countries are likely to lead to different outcomes. In the final section, the authors address the future, discussing the fate of leaders in the region, the resurgence of Islamist groups, and providing an analysis of the types of governments that could eventually emerge in these countries. Noueihed and Warren emphasize the fluid and unpredictable nature of the movements, and share their thoughts about the region's uncertain future.