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Strengthening authoritarian rule through democracy promotion? Examining the paradox of the US and EU security strategies: the case of Bin Ali's Tunisia

Cavatorta, Francesco orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-2249-1392 and Durac, Vincent orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-1569-0772 (2009) Strengthening authoritarian rule through democracy promotion? Examining the paradox of the US and EU security strategies: the case of Bin Ali's Tunisia. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 36 (1). pp. 3-19. ISSN 1469-3542

Abstract
Since the end of the Cold War, much has been made about the crises that recurrently characterize the transatlantic relationship. Since the attacks of September 11th and the war in Iraq, such a crisis, according to many, has developed into a fully-fledged rift, which is beyond repair. The different views and policies of the US and EU in the Middle East are usually held as a paradigmatic example of the differences that exist between the two actors. The paper challenges this assumption and argues that the transatlantic rift, once the rhetoric is set aside, is not as deep as many suggest. In fact, through an in-depth analysis of how the democracy-promotion policies on the EU and the US are implemented, the paper shows that they are attempting to achieve similar objectives, under similar constraints and suffer from similar contradictions and shortcomings. The paper investigates such policies in the context of Tunisia, a country which, at least theoretically, should be moving forward towards democracy given the pro-democracy environment in which it operates.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Subjects:Social Sciences > Political science
DCU Faculties and Centres:Research Initiatives and Centres > Centre for International Studies (CIS)
DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Law and Government
Publisher:Routledge
Official URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13530190902749523
Copyright Information:© 2009 British Society of Middle Eastern Studies
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
ID Code:481
Deposited On:20 Apr 2009 11:05 by DORAS Administrator . Last Modified 14 Sep 2021 11:23
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