A Comparative Analysis of Mena Region Countries

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A Comparative Analysis of Mena Region Countries Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations Graduate Program in International Studies Fall 12-2020 The Path to Victory: A Comparative Analysis of Mena Region Countries Negar Moayed Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gpis_etds Part of the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Moayed, Negar. "The Path to Victory: A Comparative Analysis of Mena Region Countries" (2020). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, , Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/hcbz-6q52 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gpis_etds/127 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Program in International Studies at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PATH TO VICTORY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MENA REGION COUNTRIES by Negar Moayed M.A. May 2012, Taylors University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL STUDIES OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY December 2020 Approved by: Peter Schulman (Director) Cathy Wu (Member) Fran Hassencahl (Member) ABSTRACT THE PATH TO VICTORY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MENA REGION COUNTRIES Negar Moayed Old Dominion University, 2020 Director: Dr. Peter Schulman During the “Arab Spring” the Arab world witnessed a wave of uprisings. As a result of these anti-government movements, four governments of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen were overthrown, three governments of Bahrain, Jordan, and to some points Saudi Arabia were faced with critical difficulties, and one government ,Syria, experienced domestic war. All these happened while some other Middle Eastern countries remained stable. Yet, the remaining questions are: how did these protests emerge? How was the collective identity which is essential for the social movements created? Why were some of these movements successful in overthrowing the regime while the others failed? What factors were involved in the success or failure of these social movements? In order to answer these questions this study reviews the mainstream theories of social movements to examine whether any of these theories are applicable to the case of MENA and whether they can explain the reason behind the formation of movements. This research argues that the traditional theories of social movements fall short in explaining the chaos in the MENA region as well as the reasons behind the formation of uprisings. Accordingly, by in depth analysis of three case studies of Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain and through comparing different involved countries in the Arab Spring, this study introduces four existing challenges in the MENA region. Later by defining relevant sub-categories for each challenge, institutional factors, facilitators, and determiners are recognized. Finally, by defining a model, this study claims that the first three challenges, secularism/Islamism, economic, and ethnic/tribal division are the reason behind the formation of social movements of MENA and the last challenge, administrative, sheds light on the variation of outcome of the movements in this region iv Copyright, 2020, by Negar Moayed, All Rights Reserved. v This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Steve Yetiv, who was my mentor and main reason behind the initiation of the idea of this whole study. The memory of him will forever be with us. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my appreciation to my committee. The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the support of Dr. Schulman. For always believing me, encouraging me and his great amount of assistance. He was not only the chair of my dissertation, but my mentor and friend. I would also like to thank Dr. Wu for her invaluable input and insightful suggestions. I am also incredibly grateful for the efforts of Dr. Hassencahl for accepting to share her valuable feedback for this study. Also, I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Regina Karp for being such a great teacher and mentor through this long path. Most importantly, I am so appreciative of the support and love of my family and my husband through this process. Without their support this process would have been far more arduous. In closing I would like to thank all those who have contributed to my success in taking this journey. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL MOVEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 The Classical Theories of Social Movements .................................................... 16 2.2 Collective Behavior Theory ............................................................................... 20 2.3 Political Process Theory (PPT) .......................................................................... 22 2.4 Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) .............................................................. 24 2.5 Framing Theory .................................................................................................. 26 2.6 New Social Movement Theory .......................................................................... 28 3. APPLYING DIFFERENT SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORIES TO THE CASE OF MENA ............................................................................................................................... 33 3.1 Applying the Resource Mobilization Theory on the MENA ............................. 35 3.2 Applying PPT Theory on MENA Cases ............................................................ 39 3.3 Applying New Social Movement Theory on MENA Cases .............................. 41 4. THE NATURE OF MENA MOVEMENTS ..................................................................... 45 5. PREVENTIVE FACTORS OF DEMOCRATIZATION IN THE MENA REGION; HISTORICAL CONTEXT ............................................................................................... 54 5.1 Democracy Development Indicators .................................................................. 56 5.1.1 Election ............................................................................................. 56 5.1.2 Freedom of Political Groups and Parties .......................................... 57 5.1.3 Distribution of Political Power ......................................................... 57 5.1.4 Fundamental Freedoms .................................................................... 58 5.1.5 Social and Political Equality ............................................................ 58 5.1.6 Independence of Political Systems ................................................... 58 5.2 The Obstacles to Democracy .............................................................................. 59 5.2.1 The Structure of Tradition ................................................................ 59 5.2.2 The Weakness of Civil and Cultural Society ................................... 60 5.2.3 Lack of Political, Social and Economic Development ..................... 61 5.2.4 The Compatibility or Incompatibility Between Religion and Democracy ................................................................................................ 62 viii Chapter Page 5.2.5 Structure of the Non-Democratic Middle Eastern Systems ............. 65 5.2.6 Rentier States .................................................................................... 66 6. CASE STUDIES; MECHANISMS OF POLITICAL CHANGE IN MENA ................... 71 6.1 Secularism-Islamism .......................................................................................... 79 6.2 Economic Challenge .......................................................................................... 81 6.3 Tribal and Ethnic Division ................................................................................. 86 6.4 The Administrative Challenge ........................................................................... 92 7. ANALYTICAL APPROACH ......................................................................................... 101 7.1 Institutional Factors .......................................................................................... 102 7.1.1 Clash Between Expectations and Reality ....................................... 102 7.1.2 Public’s Distrust in Government .................................................... 104 7.1.3 Sedimentation of the Present Ideology ........................................... 107 7.1.4 Social, Political and Economic Instability ..................................... 109 7.2 Facilitators ........................................................................................................ 113 7.2.1 The Role of Culture and Social Media ........................................... 113 7.2.2 The Role of Oppositions ...............................................................
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