This book provides a fascinating analysis of the external and internal linkages that have for decades impeded economic and political reforms in the Arab world, and presents a new and coherent framework that enables policy makers and practitioners to better understand, identify and deal with the root causes of terrorism.

In the wake of September 11 through the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a key tenet of U.S. foreign policy has been that promoting democracy in the Arab world is an important strategy in reducing terrorism; at the same time, some policymakers and analysts have held that democracy has nothing to do with terrorism -- or even that the growth of democracy in the Middle East may exacerbate political violence. However, scant empirical evidence links democracy to terrorism, positively or negatively. This study examines whether such links exist by exploring the effects of liberalization processes on political violence in Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco from 1991 to 2006. Drawing on data on the incidence of terrorist violence, extensive fieldwork and interviews in each of the six countries, and primary and secondary literature from and about each country, Kaye et al. find that political reforms have, in some instances, helped to marginalize and undercut extremist actors, but that these effects tend to be short-lived if reforms fail to produce tangible results. Moreover, when regimes backtrack on even limited openings, the risks of instability and violence increase.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject History - Asia, grade: 1,7, University of Erfurt, course: Globalisation and the Muslim World, 7 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The focus of this paper is the media system of the Arab world, its development, and the local and global factors that have had considerable influence during the last years. Different theories question the importance of communication and media for globalisation and vice versa, therefore the existence of a global communication network or global media and the participation of the Arab world in the global media evolution is observed. In the last fifty years print media, television, and internet have proven to be important agents of social change even if their development has always been accompanied by censorship arrangements in the different political systems of the region. The Arab world has not been isolated from global changes in the media sector. Mass media, especially the Internet, and their importance for global economy are seen as motor of globalization but capital and technology are expanding faster than the development of trans-cultural communication is able to. This displacement in the action-reaction chain can be observed in the way global content and media are domesticised, transformed, controlled and rejected in the Arab countries and how important topics like cultural imperialism, indigenous values, international norms of journalism, and freedom of speech are discussed and negotiated in these societies.

Now available in paperback, this collection of essays offers an alternative approach to the study of today's Arab states by focusing on their participation in neo-liberal globalization rather than on authoritarianism or Islam. The effects of the restructuring of traditional state power engendered by globalization are analyzed separately, through updated empirical research into the political, economic, and security processes of each country considered. Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia are the case studies selected to represent different paths towards a shared model of a 'new' Arab state which, far from representing an exceptional case of resilience against global trends, may be seen in many instances as typifying their effects. The book offers both an overall conceptualization of change affecting the Arab states, domestically and internationally, and a series of in-depth case studies by country and functional areas. It is extremely timely when viewed within the context of the current political unrest and unprecedented change within the Middle East. This paperback edition includes a new preface which links the author's research to the current Arab Spring crisis.

This timely collection of original essays examines the global link between democratic development and political terrorism, delving into the difficult questions, challenges, far-reaching consequences, and uncertainties of dealing with terrorism on an international scale.

September 11 provided a vision and a strategy to a US Presidency that until then had been groping for fresh ideas and a relevant foreign policy. The 'global war on terror' now became an article of faith for the United States. The US Government, media and think-tanks turned their attention to Islam, the Arab world and Saudi Arabia, and held them responsible for the catastrophe unleashed upon the Americans. Reform of religion, of politics and economics, of education, and of cultural and religious life thus became the new buzz-word. This new focus on 'reform', whatever the motivation of its protagonists, had the effect of igniting a reform - related debate across the Arab world. Academics, journalists, businessmen and political figures, and, frequently, government leaders, all of them participated in this resounding cacophony for reform, discussing issues of political, economic, social, religious and cultural change with unprecedented freedom. The discussion about reform is still in full flow, yielding in its wake some satisfaction that debates are underway that will decide the destiny of the Arab person. This monograph provides an account of this extraordinary intellectual ferment in the Arab world and the attempts of governments, Arab and foreign, to cope politically and intellectually with these new challenges. -- Back jacket.

Explores modern Islamic terrorism in the context of globalization and cultural evolution. This book argues that globalization is resulting in serious threats to the basic psychological needs of some, particularly in connection with collective identity.