Unfinished Revolutions: Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia after the Arab Spring

304 Pages·2016·2.52 MB·English

by  Ibrahim Fraihat

Unfinished Revolutions
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Unfinished
Revolutions
Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia
after the Arab Spring
I B R A H I M F R A I H A T
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
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Published with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 2016 by Ibrahim Fraihat.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including
illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108
of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without
written permission from the publishers.
Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business,
or promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] (U.S. offi ce)
or [email protected] (U.K. offi ce).
Set in Electra LH type by Newgen North America.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN: 978-0-300-21563-2 (hardback : alk. paper)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946973
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992
(Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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For those who spoke out against oppression
but died before they saw justice prevail
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
Part I. Issues of Reconciliation
one
Libya 21
two
Yemen 39
three
Tunisia 58
four
Issues of Reconciliation:
A Comparative Perspective 65
vii
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Contents
Part II. Approaches of Reconciliation
five
National Dialogue 75
six
Truth Seeking and Grappling with the Past 103
seven
Reparations 127
eight
Dealing with the Former Regime:
Accountability and Lustration 141
nine
Institutional Reform 171
Part III. Agents of Reconciliation
ten
Civil Society Organizations 189
eleven
Women 201
twelve
Tribes 210
Conclusion 221
Appendixes 233
Notes 249
Bibliography 263
Index 279
viii
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Acknowledgments
When I told my wife I was going to Sanaa after the fall of former presi-
dent Ali Abdullah Saleh, she became very concerned, even though
it was certainly not my fi rst visit to the country. Months later, her concerns
only intensifi ed when she learned that I was also going to Libya after Muam-
mar Qaddafi ’s removal from power. “Why do you go to confl ict zones in
the middle of all this instability? It’s not safe.” I wasn’t choosing to do this
now, I replied—it was a choice I made fi fteen years ago when I began my
Ph.D. program in confl ict resolution at George Mason University. It was a
conscious decision to dedicate the rest of my career to understanding the
phenomenon of confl ict and how societies can work to bring these confl icts
to an end.
Given my academic background, I immediately realized that the real
challenge for Arab Spring societies would begin the day they toppled their
autocratic rulers. They faced the massive task of rebuilding Arab societies
that have been wracked by colonialism and dictatorships for the past cen-
tury. Changing leaders can take days but changing institutions and rebuild-
ing states can take years, if not decades. There is no better testament to this
than the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, which toppled re-
gimes in a few days but failed to rebuild states over the next fourteen years.
Whether they follow civil wars, dictatorships, or foreign occupation, tran-
sitions to a new state of civil peace are often chaotic, cumbersome, lengthy,
and even violent. Arab societies are no exception. The idea of this book
ix
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