Tunisia’s Islamist-led government is in a tight spot. Tunisian voters are frustrated with the slow pace of government delivery. New political forces have emerged that for the first time bear the potential of challenging Islamist hegemony. In this tense political context, the ways in which external forces might try to influence the course of events is the subject of heated debate. This paper assesses the way ‘foreign funding’ in Tunisia has developed after the 2011 revolution, focusing on the local perceptions of such assistance.
As the Syrian revolution enters its third year, the risks to regional stability are escalating. Violence has spilled over all of Syria's borders and into the country from across the region. This paper addresses the implications of the regionalisation of Syria’s conflict and the challenges it presents to the stability of the post-Ottoman state order in the Levant.
Two years after the Egyptian revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood’s legitimacy crisis sets the floor for non-Islamist political forces to fill the emerging vacuum.
In Egypt’s fragile transition, the highly-politicised issue of foreign funding is easily used by political actors to try to influence public debate and advance their respective agendas.
The domestic political and regional security implications of the Arab revolts will force the US and the EU better to equip themselves to deal with a very diverse geopolitics in the new Middle East.
The Arab spring is both a challenge and an opportunity for the EU and the US. While neither can expect to determine political outcomes in the region, both can realistically aim to facilitate change and avoid rendering democratisation more difficult.