The Promise and Peril of Middle Eastern Revolutions

The Promise and Peril of Middle Eastern Revolutions

By: Jamsheed K. Choksy and Carol E. B. Choksy | Briefing

History demonstrates that revolutions often result in new or renewed forms of despotism. One reason for caution regarding the future of the Arab Uprising is that few Middle Eastern countries have political pasts not dominated by monarchy, theocracy or the military. Should Muslim majorities prevail in their quests for secular self-governance, they would be firmly eschewing the replacement of one form of totalitarianism for another.