While despotic Arab regimes may seem stable, change is brewing beneath the surface. A new era is emerging in which the state will be forced to retreat before a vibrant civil society.
About the Author
Laith Kubba, a native of Baghdad, is senior director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Endowment for Democracy. From May 2005 to March 2006, he was chief press spokesperson for Iraq’s Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaffari.
Jordan gets much good press for having one of the more open and liberal regimes in the Arab world, but that reputation masks a considerably grimmer reality.
A domestic pact may be needed to end a dictatorship, but what happens when that pact itself becomes one of the chief obstacles to deeper democratization?
