The dark side of regionalism: how regional organizations help authoritarian regimes to boost survival

Figures & data

Figure 1. Process of regime-boosting regionalism.

Table 1. Overview of cases.

	Zimbabwe	China	Bahrain
Case	Election Crisis 2008	Urumqi Riots 2009	Arab Spring Uprisings 2011
Challenge	Accusation of electoral misconduct by international actors & domestic population	Civic unrest of Muslim minority population	Demand for political reform by opposition groups and elites
Survival Strategy	Legitimation & International Appeasement	Repression	Co-optation (& Repression)
RO Support	- Diplomatic support - Regional identity discourse based on African Solidarity & anti-colonialism - Favourable election monitoring - Protection from external pressure	- “Three evils” doctrine to criminalize activists - Intelligence sharing: blacklisting, denial of asylum, extradition - Joint military missions	- Financial transfers from GCC Development Fund - Coordination of anti-Shia propaganda & “national dialogue” - GCC military intervention
Outcome	- SADC-mediated power-sharing agreement keeping Mugabe as President - Protection from regional & international sanctions - Legitimation of Mugabe as post-colonial liberation hero	- Successful criminalization of Muslim population as terrorists - Extradition, prosecution and detention of Muslims across borders	- Successful co-optation of Sunni population & de-legitimation of Shia opposition - Weakening of reform demands through mock “national dialogue”