Geopolitics and democracy in the Middle East

The Middle East and North Africa is undergoing a profound geopolitical reconfiguration. Since the 2011 popular revolutions, the region has transitioned from great hopes for democratisation towards a spiral of violence, fragmentation and fragility. As a result, competition for power and influence in the Arab world increasingly supersedes calls for political reform. In particular, those states that claim to support the development of democracy face a number of seemingly irreconcilable dilemmas as they simultaneously try to further their geopolitical interests. This FRIDE book maps the geopolitical profiles and activities of six key regional powers (Egypt, Iran, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey) and seven influential external actors (China, the European Union, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) - and assesses how their pursuit of their geopolitical interests is affecting the prospects for democracy across the Middle East.