While the Arab Spring has resulted in numerous different political outcomes across the Arab world, conventional theories of democratization are lacking in explaining these divergent outcomes. Developing a theory of democratization, strategic importance and external intervention, I examine the relationship between national strategic importance and democratization. I argue that strategically important states will be targeted by external actors in attempts to stifle or thwart democracy because democracy may upset the status quo that foreign actors benefit from. I do not find support for the hypothesis that strategic importance and democratization share a general negative relationship, however, I find moderate support that strategic importance is related to the timing of regime breakdown, democratic breakdown and democratic transition. Furthermore, in examining the cases of Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, I highlight key moments of external intervention and influence that impacted the democratization attempts of each case.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1703364 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Lookabaugh, Brian Scott |
| Contributors | Mason, T. D., Enterline, Andrew J., Walker, Lee D. |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | iv, 76 pages, Text |
| Rights | Public, Lookabaugh, Brian Scott, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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