The Evolving Ruling Bargain in the Middle East Summary Report

The "Evolving Ruling Bargain in the Middle East" Summary Report details the CIRS research initiative on “The Evolving Ruling Bargain in the Middle East" to scrutinize the ways in which domestic political arrangements in the Middle East are evolving, and how the authoritarian bargains are being challenged. This project brings together a number of distinguished scholars to examine a variety of relevant topics and to contribute original chapters to the CIRS book titled, Beyond the Arab Spring: The Evolving Ruling Bargain in the Middle East. Some of the areas addressed include: the need for modifying theoretical paradigms explaining authoritarian perseverance in the Middle East; the role of key actors and institutions (the role of the military, the bureaucracy, the ruling party, and opposition figures); evolving sources of political legitimacy; the dynamics of the domestic and international political economy, and the impact of the failure (or the efforts) to reform domestic economies; the relevance or not of Political Islam and the role of Islamism in the opposition; and the role of traditional media, new media, and social media.