Compilation of previously published articles and essays on traditional culture, cultural change, politics, modernization, and other issues of contemporary society in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libyan Arab Jamahiriya - covers the attitudes of different social classes, social structures, elites, governments and political leadership, political and social change, etc., and includes statements by politicians on such themes as nationalism. Annotated bibliography, maps and references.

Independence from colonial rule did not usher in the halcyon days many North Africans had hoped for, as the new governments in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria soon came to rely on repression to reinforce and maintain power. In response to widespread human rights abuses, individuals across the Maghrib began to form groups in the late 1970s to challenge the political practices and structures in the region, and over time these independent human rights organizations became prominent political actors. The activists behind them are neither saints nor revolutionaries, but political reformers intent on changing political patterns that have impeded democratization. This study, the first systematic comparative analysis of North African politics in more than a decade, explores the ability of society, including Islamist forces, to challenge the powers of states. Locating Maghribi polities within their cultural and historical contexts, Waltz traces state-society relations in the contemporary period. Even as Algeria totters at the brink of civil war and security concerns rise across the region, the human rights groups Susan Waltz examines implicitly challenge the authoritarian basis of political governance. Their efforts have not led to the democratic transition many had hoped, but human rights have become a crucial new element of North African political discourse. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1995.

The first edition of Tunisia was released just nine months before the eruption of the Arab Spring. The most substantial period of political unrest felt by the Arab world in a half century originated in Tunisia, a fact that confounded expectations about Tunisian politics. This new edition builds upon the first edition’s overview of Tunisia’s political and economic development to examine how one of the region’s hardiest authoritarian orders was toppled by a loosely organised protest wave. Providing the most up-to-date introduction to Tunisia’s post-independence and post-Arab Spring politics, concisely written chapters cover topics such as: state formation domestic politics economic development foreign relations colonialism the Arab Spring; its factors and repercussions Key to this new edition is the examination of Tunisian history, politics and society alongside the subsequent upheaval following the outbreak of revolts in December 2010. It looks at how political and economic changes after 2001, including economic deterioration and rising inequality and corruption, had already begun to erode bases of Ben Ali’s government, and explores why Tunisia is the sole Arab Spring country to construct a democracy thus far, and the challenges that this new democracy still faces. An essential inclusion on courses on Middle Eastern politics, African politics, and political science in general, this accessible introduction to Tunisia will also be of interest to anyone wishing to learn more about this significant region.

This book incorporates the critical features of the external environment into an analysis that is principally directed at the kinds of policy alternatives available to Morocco for which culture and culturally related historic and domestic socioeconomic factors are most directly relevant.

This book examines the socioeconomic and political development of Libya from earliest times to the present, concentrating in particular on the four decades of revolutionary rule which began in 1969. Focusing on the twin themes of continuity and change, Ronald Bruce St John emphasises the full extent to which the revolutionary government has distorted the depth and breadth of the post-1969 revolution by stressing policy change at the expense of policy continuity. Following a brief look at pre-independence Libya, the author explores the way in which the fragility of the post-independence state, unable to contain rising Arab nationalist struggles and growing economic expectations, opened the way for the Free Unionist Officers led by Muammar al-Qaddafi to seize power. He then traces the progressive development of the revolutionary state through four stages: the consolidation of power to 1973 the projection of power to 1986 withdrawal and retrenchment to 1999 the redefinition of the state after 1999. Highlighting the issues facing the contemporary state and providing possible solutions, this book will be an important text for students of current affairs, history, North Africa and the Middle East.

The violence that has ravaged Algeria has often defied explanation. Regularly invoked in debates about political Islam, transitions to democracy, globalization, and the right of humanitarian interference, Algeria's tragedy has been reduced to a clash of stereotypes: Islamists vs. a secular state, terrorists vs. innocent civilians, or generals vs. a defenseless society. The prevalence of such simplistic representations has disabled public opinion inside as well as outside the country and contributed to the intractability ofthe conflict. This collection of essays offers a radical corrective to Western misconceptions. Rejecting the usual tautological approaches of inherent, predetermined conflict, Hugh Roberts explores the outlook and evolution of the various internal forces as they emerged - the Islamists, the Berberists, the factions within the army, and the regime in general - and he looks at external interests and actors. He explains their strategies and the maneuvers in which they haveengaged. The resulting analyses illuminate the startling dynamics of the conflict and the real issues at stake, and identify the implications not only for Algeria but also for this crucial region. Informed by a deep knowledge of Algeria and Algerian history, these accessible essays guide the reader through the extraordinary politics of the drama in all its complexity.

A wealth of historical writing dealing with the Maghrib (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya) has been published during the roughly forty years since European colonial control ended in the region. This book provides a "state of the field" survey of this postcolonial Maghribi historiography. The book contains thirteen essays by leading Maghribi and North American scholars. The first section surveys the Maghrib as a whole; the second focuses on individual countries of the Maghrib; and the third explores theoretical issues and case studies. Cutting across chronological categories, the book encompasses historiographical writing dealing with all eras, from the ancient Maghrib to the contemporary period.