The Arab Middle East and the West: Where to from Here?

In January 2011 the Arab Uprisings brought into sharp focus a decades-long process of social and economic change that had largely been denied effective political expression in most of the Arab non-oil exporting countries of the region. Irrespective of possible political developments in the aftermath of that period, the future of most Arab countries now clearly hinges on a conundrum: in all but a few cases, reform to improve the capacity of states to meet the challenges ahead is essential, because all the alternatives are worse; but the pursuit of such reform is certain to affect long-established political, economic and social arrangements, and the privileges and interests of those who have been the primary beneficiaries of those systems.