Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East

by Jeremy Jones

As the US demand for Western-style democracy in the Middle East grows ever more strained, Harvard Middle East expert Jeremy Jones travels through the region evaluating the prospects for change. He engages with diverse political cultures, from traditional assemblies in the Persian Gulf, to sophisticated multiconfessional politics in the Levant. Drawing on 25 years experience in the region, and hundreds of interviews with government officials, opposition leaders, grassroots activists and ordinary people, he finds real momentum towards democratic reform, but concludes that to be successful and durable, it must be pursued through local political cultures, not in spite of them. With a new perspective on a troubled region, his critique of US policy argues that promoting a ""one-size-fits-all"" democratic model has been misguided, and ultimately counter-productive.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Jeremy Jones has an Oxford-based consulting business and has worked on Oman since the 1980s. His first book Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East anticipated the Arab Spring.

Reviews

[Arthur Jamo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative book that presents a compelling argument as to why democratic change in the Middle East will and should come about through negotiation (at its own pace, while respecting the cultural, social, and religious context of countries of the region). Does a good job of showing how Islamist parties have gone about broadening their appeal beyond the core constituencies.

In my view, a more-than-suitable book for anyone interested in understanding the internal political dynamics of countries like Egypt, Iran, Syria--despite everything that has tamen place since this book was written.