Winners and Losers in the Arab Spring

This book looks at the way primarily external actors influenced and were influenced by the revolutionary chaos that erupted in the Arab Middle East in 2011. The Arab revolutions radically altered the Middle East dynamic and particularly the strategic standing of key actors, both locally and globally. The winners are leaders with strategic understanding of the region and a scheme for exploiting the chaosPutin, Netanyahu and Irans Qasem Soleimanialong with, strikingly, the very institution of Arab monarchy. The losers are the Arab autocrats who were deposed in Egypt, Libya and Yemen. The Palestinians, seemingly bypassed by the dynamic of Arab revolution, are also losers. So are the American presidentsBush 43 and Obamawhose disastrous strategic decision-making catalyzed Arab state fragmentation and opened the gates of the Levant to Irans drive for regional hegemony. Western democratic society suffered toofrom waves of Islamist terrorism and the effects of Muslim migration generated at least in part by Arab chaos. Only in the case of two leaders was the jury still out by 2019. The effects of the high-risk policies of Saudi Arabias crown prince Mohamed bin Salman and the strategically incoherent policies of US President Trump remain to be seen. Winners and Losers in the Arab Spring takes a global look at a massive regional upheaval that is far from over. It is an essential read for everybody interested in the Arab revolutions, Middle East and international strategic affairs.