Publication

This paper argues that the term “Arab awakening” does not necessarily relate to the idea that the overthrow of autocratic regimes will result in pro-Western states. This is an apparently small but highly significant distinction. It serves as a salutary reminder that what is happening across the region comes from within Arab societies and that many of the regimes under threat have actually been closely allied to the West. From that perspective, there is a world of difference between the end of the Cold War and what is now happening.