Surveying the causes of the Arab Spring, and revealing the governing trends arising from it, this book examines various international relation theories through the lens of the experiences of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. It takes the events of the Arab Spring as an outcome of globalization's double movement whose integrative cultural, political and security frameworks devastated nationally controlled economies, undermining the nation-state system and propagating a decentralized and communitarian-based governance structure. The consequences for many plural, diverse societies were two-fold: autocratic nationalism was discarded while decentralized regimes representing communitarian-based politics came to the fore. The author reveals how the formulation of a new communitocratic order rests on the accommodation of this newly emerging communitarianism and explores the major drivers of political transformation, describing the emerging communities, forecasting their governing options and the possible repercussions for the post-Arab Spring states.

The Government and Politics of Lebanon, Second Edition describes the special attributes of Lebanese politics and the functions of its confessional state. It aims to contribute to the reader's understanding of contemporary Lebanese politics, consensus building, and government. It stimulates discussion concerning the nature of consociationalism as a power sharing arrangement for a divided society. The book captures the complexity of Lebanese politics by revealing the challenges embedded in the management of plurality, including institutional paralysis and system stagnations. The second edition features new and expanded chapters that pay particular attention to state's adaptations to post-Arab Spring politics. It expands the analysis on the performance of the Lebanese consociational state in light of turbulent regional environment and the various repercussions associated with regional conflict. It is divided into several parts. The first introduces the particular form and foundations of Lebanese consociationalism and provides an elaborate description of its special features. The second part explains the different rules of the game as institutionalized in the country's international and domestic power sharing arrangements. It describes the international politics of Lebanon and the influence exerted by regional powers in shaping its domestic affairs. It explains the manifestation of domestic parties and electoral systems in the power distribution among the country's different sectarian and ethnic groups. It analyzes the political economy of communitarian politics. The third part focuses on the contemporary powers and functions of the different branches of government as well as their institutional expression of sectarian interests. The fourth part of the book places Lebanese consociationalism in light of contemporary regional turmoil and describes state's responsiveness in mitigating and managing conflicts, particularly those associated with the spillover from the Syrian conflict.

The Government and Politics of Lebanon, Second Edition describes the special attributes of Lebanese politics and the functions of its confessional state. It aims to contribute to the reader's understanding of contemporary Lebanese politics, consensus building, and government. It stimulates discussion concerning the nature of consociationalism as a power sharing arrangement for a divided society. The book captures the complexity of Lebanese politics by revealing the challenges embedded in the management of plurality, including institutional paralysis and system stagnations. The second edition features new and expanded chapters that pay particular attention to state's adaptations to post-Arab Spring politics. It expands the analysis on the performance of the Lebanese consociational state in light of turbulent regional environment and the various repercussions associated with regional conflict. It is divided into several parts. The first introduces the particular form and foundations of Lebanese consociationalism and provides an elaborate description of its special features. The second part explains the different rules of the game as institutionalized in the country's international and domestic power sharing arrangements. It describes the international politics of Lebanon and the influence exerted by regional powers in shaping its domestic affairs. It explains the manifestation of domestic parties and electoral systems in the power distribution among the country's different sectarian and ethnic groups. It analyzes the political economy of communitarian politics. The third part focuses on the contemporary powers and functions of the different branches of government as well as their institutional expression of sectarian interests. The fourth part of the book places Lebanese consociationalism in light of contemporary regional turmoil and describes state's responsiveness in mitigating and managing conflicts, particularly those associated with the spillover from the Syrian conflict.

The book surveys comparative power sharing models implemented in societies that have faced identity-conflicts, with attention given to post-conflict design. It analyzes the success and pitfalls of international experiences before proposing a model for Syria. Contributors address the central question: which among the set of power-sharing agreements that have helped settle protracted identity-driven armed conflict can provide Syria with a platform for dialogue, negotiation, and conflict mitigation? The comparative analysis advanced in this book extracts lessons from countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, India, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Northern Ireland, the Philippines and Sudan. The prospect of a post-conflict distribution of power in Syria is then unraveled from different sectarian, ethnic and regional perspectives. The authors also address challenges of peacebuilding such as violent extremism, gender participation, resettlements, retributions, transitional justice, integration of armed groups and regional and international sponsorship.

The book surveys comparative power sharing models implemented in societies that have faced identity-conflicts, with attention given to post-conflict design. It analyzes the success and pitfalls of international experiences before proposing a model for Syria. Contributors address the central question: which among the set of power-sharing agreements that have helped settle protracted identity-driven armed conflict can provide Syria with a platform for dialogue, negotiation, and conflict mitigation? The comparative analysis advanced in this book extracts lessons from countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, India, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Northern Ireland, the Philippines and Sudan. The prospect of a post-conflict distribution of power in Syria is then unraveled from different sectarian, ethnic and regional perspectives. The authors also address challenges of peacebuilding such as violent extremism, gender participation, resettlements, retributions, transitional justice, integration of armed groups and regional and international sponsorship.