Proceedings of International Conference on Modern Approach in Humanities and Social Sciences
Year: 2019
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/icmhs.2019.03.156
Reaction of armed forces to protests in revolutions:A regional study in North Africa and the Middle East
Morad Vaisibiame
ABSTRACT:
Reaction of armed forces to protests in revolutions: a regional study in North Africa and the Middle East. This is my doctoral thesis at Charles University. The analysis of the revolution of 1979 in Iran, the process of regime changes in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Syria during the uprisings, known as the Arab Spring, indicates that the armed forces have been one of the main players in all these revolutionary changes. The armed forces in the countries reacted differently to the popular uprising and protests. I attempt to answer, the following issues: Why the process of revolutionary changes in the some of these countries lead to a collapse of the whole state structure, rather than a peaceful transition, as well as the reasons behind the increase in violence levels in these countries. How does the process of revolutionary change affect the armed forces in the post-revolutionary period? It aims to offer a comparison between the process of pre-revolutionary, revolutionary and post-revolutionary change in five Middle East countries with a focus on the role and the actions of the armed forces. It attempts to understand different behavioral principles of the armed forces and their effects on the formation and dimension of violence during the process of revolutionary change and the consequences of the changes on the armed forces.
Keywords: revolution; protest; Arab Spring; violence; Iran.