Military defections didn’t determine the Arab uprisings
Eight years ago, the Arab Spring uprisings led to the overthrow of longtime dictators Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia. Many have attributed these unexpectedly quick ousters to the countries’ militaries defecting from the regime and siding with the opposition. But these depictions are not only inaccurate, they also have serious implications for theory and policy.
In a recent article, we argue that such interpretation of these events represent “Myths of Military Defection”. These myths have led scholars to inaccurately compare two very different armed forces and equate defection from the regime with support of the opposition.… Seguir leyendo »