Spatial Dynamics of the Arab Uprisings

A nalyses of the spread of the Arab uprisings have been dominated by three comparative angles. Single-country studies have emerged as the most common framework, often put to use in a second comparative approach of examining variation across cases. For example, studies explore which states have had major uprisings and which have not, which uprisings were peaceful and which were violent, and so on (Amar and Prashad 2013; Haddad, Bsheer, and Abu-Rish 2012; McMurray and Ufheil-Somers 2013; Sowers and Toensing 2013). A third approach explores comparisons with other waves of popular mobilization against authoritarian regimes, for example, in Europe during the mid-nineteenth century, Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, and so on (Patel, Bunce, and Wolchik 2013; Weyland 2012). These literatures investigate the complex processes of mobilization, revolution, and transition unfolding in parts of the Middle East since the outbreak of the uprisings in late 2010. From the literature on revolutions, for example, we know that a popularly based movement that brings about some change in political leadership does not necessarily lead to a regime change resulting in a fundamental overturning of an economic, political, or social system. From past cases we have learned that at least some old institutions and alliances almost always reemerge, and what form the new institution will take eventually is often unknown for several years—for example, think of the Iranian revolution, let alone the French revolution. As events in postrevolutionary Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen continue to unfold—and it is questionable whether those revolutions are even over—and as the bloody civil war in Syria continues, these insights provide us with useful tools for examining how institutions, processes, and power relations are changing—and how they are not. These comparative analyses make good sense, and there is certainly a need for detailed case and comparative studies. It is also easy to see how the Arab uprisings might be incorporated into courses that deal with revolutions, political transitions, socialmovements, and contentious politics. As discussed in the introduction to this symposium, however, the Arab uprisings offer some other exciting avenues for both scholarly research and incorporation into broader thematic courses.The spatial dimensions of the uprisings, for example, can reveal surprising insights while also substantively advancing scholarly debates. In this article, I examine some in-case as well as across-case variations in the Arab uprisings through the lens of political geography—that is, by directing attention to the spatial dynamics of the protests. DIFFUSIONS