Introduction: The West Asian and North African Uprisings and the Limits of Liberal Governance

Abstract

This special section brings together scholars working in divergent disciplines and locations. By focusing on agency and politics from below in addition to the structural and discursive contexts that condition wider relations between the West Asian and North African (WANA) region and the European Union, the special section makes the case for a critical reinterpretation of WANA–European relations and a paradigm for future intellectual engagement.

Keywords:

• Arab uprisings
• Arab Spring
• European Union
• neoliberalism
• democracy promotion
• authoritarianism

Acknowledgements

The special section editors would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Reem Abou-El-Fadl for her substantive and formative feedback and support throughout the various stages of realizing this project. Her theoretical and thematic insights and suggestions were invaluable, and her expert editing skills contributed to a much more coherent and cogent special section.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on Contributors

Corinna Mullin is a visiting Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Tunis as well as a Research Associate in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). ([email protected])

Polly Pallister-Wilkins is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Amsterdam. ([email protected])

Notes

1 The use of this term is increasingly prevalent amongst critical scholars in the fields of Comparative Politics, Sociology, International Relations and other branches of political science. The term refers to the region geographically synonymous with that which is commonly referred to as the ‘Middle East’, including non-Arab countries such as Turkey and Iran. The roots of the ‘Middle East’ moniker are in colonial history, where it was used to describe the region's geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than to its location within the Asian continent, are particularly problematic in light of the critical and post-/anti-colonial analysis informing this special section.