Understanding revolutions: About the trilogy of Azmi Bishara

Abstract

Influential in his writing about the Arab Spring, Azmi Bishara delivers a trilogy about the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria which was first published in Arabic and then translated with some updates to English. while theoretically grounded, they are the outcome of extensive research and documentation of everyday events in these three countries and a reflection on the heated debates in the Arab world. Using a democratic transition theory perspective, Bishara thus explains the failure of the democratic transition and how it has impacted the Arab revolutions ever since. Despite the major setback in all these revolutions, Bishara, like myself, is still hopeful that this is the only dynamic that is possible to deliver long waiting changes.