Did the Arab Spring Achieved Its Objectives - Research Proposal Example

M22ISS Research Design RESEARCH DESIGN ASSESSMENT Name: Course: Date of initial enrollment (October or January cohort): Student ID: Supervisor: 1. Proposed research question Five years later, did the Arab Spring achieved its objectives? Why did the military intervention or non-intervention lead to the success or failure? 2. Objective of the dissertation To determine whether the Arab Spring was a success or failure, and if the military intervention or non-intervention brought about any change 3. Aims of the dissertation To explore several dimensions of international and domestic politics associated with the Arab Spring To demonstrate why democratic transitions within the countries of Tunisia, Libya and also Egypt have largely been unsuccessful To provide evidence that Arab Spring was a failure by examining the conceptual issues of humanitarian intervention, political protest and social change To determine the extent of success or failure of the Arab spring 4. Your dissertation’s position in the existing literature The dissertation seeks to demonstrate that Arab Spring was a failure because political instability and violence are still existent across Libya, Egypt, and other Arab countries. After the Arab Spring, Bradley (2012) asserts that political change has destroyed social order since unrests happen often while Christians and secular forces are being targeted by the hardliners. This dissertation will exhibit how moderation of parties in countries like Egypt and Tunisia are merely a myth designed to fool the West as well as the voters. Hinnebusch (2003, p. 154) mentioned that war has extremely changed the regional system of Middle East, and as a result, the region has the most enduring centres of conflict. For instance, establishing Israel to the detriment of the indigenous Palestinians resulted in a series of wars, all of which led to new issues and grievances obfuscating the likelihood of finding a resolution. The dissertation will prove that the Arab Spring led to additional issues and grievances and so cannot be deemed as successful. Noueihed and Warren (2012) study will be used in this dissertation to explain the unique set of complications that put stability in Arab countries at danger. After the Arab spring, Noueihed and Warren (2012) argues that Arab nations are still facing challenges in overcoming tribal divides, building democratic institutions as well as satisfying the need for employment. The dissertation will provide an overview of the uncertainty that surrounds the post-revolutionary future that was set in motion by the Arab Spring. All through the 20th century, conservatives and liberals according to Kazamias (2011) have rejected revolution as a feasible technique for bringing social and political change. The author argues that revolutions are extremely violent, normally lead to dictatorships, and are doomed to extinguish the organic social unity. Still, some scholars such as Abou-El-Fadl (2012) believe that the Arab Spring was successful because it ‘democratised’ the structures and language of the Arab countries and has led to new formations. In support of Filiu (2011) book, this dissertation seeks to prove that conditions that the Arab states imposed after the Arab Spring led to radical anti-democratic groups such as ISIS. This assertion concurs with Huntington (1998) argument that there is no universal civilisation because people are divided by their cultures. The Arab uprisings as mentioned by Hinnebusch (2015) led to the removal of four presidents and somewhat changed the political dynamics in the Arab countries; however, the dissertation provides evidence that removing a leader does not translate to creating inclusive and stable ‘democratic’ institutions. This is further echoed by Laz (2014), arguing that the persistence of anti-democratic and authoritarianism forces across the Arab world has continually created barriers for the democratisation in the Arab world. Still, Akder (2013) believes that uprisings cannot be treated as revolutions; therefore, this dissertation seeks to provide evidence why it is historically wrong and analytically unsound to treat the Arab uprisings as revolutions. 5. Bibliography Abou-El-Fadl, R., 2012. The Road to Jerusalem through Tahrir Square: Anti-Zionism and Palestine in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. 41, no. 2, 23. Akder, D.G., 2013. Theories of Revolutions and Arab Uprisings: The Lessons from the Middle East. Ortadoğu Etütleri, vol. 4, no. 2, 106. Bradley, J.R., 2012. After the Arab Spring: How Islamists Hijacked The Middle East Revolts. New York City, New York, United States: St. Martin's Press, 12. Filiu, J.-P., 2011. The Arab Revolution: Ten Lessons from the Democratic Uprising. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 92. Hinnebusch, R., 2003. The international politics of the Middle East. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Hinnebusch, R., 2015. Introduction: understanding the consequences of the Arab uprisings – starting points and divergent trajectories. Democratization, vol. 22, no. 2, 205. Huntington, S.P., 1998. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster, 12. Kazamias, A., 2011. The ‘Anger Revolutions’ in the Middle East: an answer to decades of failed reform. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, vol. 13, no. 2, 154. Laz, E., 2014. Sustainable Democracy and the Paradox of the Arab Spring: The Egypt Experience. Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations, vol. 13, no. 1/2, 45. Noueihed, L. & Warren, A., 2012. The Battle for the Arab Spring: Revolution, Counter-revolution and the Making of a New Era. St, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 4. 6. Methodology Basically, the methodology can be defined as the procedure and techniques utilised to conduct the research. Generally, the research will involve generation, gathering and analysis of data. The research will make sure that the data collected from the secondary sources (like internet materials, journals and books) are consistent with the area of study. In this dissertation, I will use case study because it is the appropriate way of analysing certain riots and protests as well as their consequences. Undoubtedly, the case study will be a suitable technique for carrying out the analytical research since it is considered a technique that generates opportunities for defining and observing specific research phenomena. Besides, the case study will be an ideal research strategy for this dissertation, because of numerous characteristics that are consistent with the case study; for instance, the analysis utilises the existing data and also the existing empirical variables have been analysed qualitatively. This research strives not just to analyse the success or failure of Arab spring, but also to understand the context of the success or failure. For this reason, the case study is considered as the most suitable research method. The case study research will be conducted through reports of past studies and will facilitate the analysis and understanding of complex issues surrounding the Arab spring. The case study was considered appropriate because it is a robust method for carrying out research, especially because an in-depth and holistic investigation is required. Generally, the case study is considered as an important tool in scores of social science studies, and it has become more crucial when community-based issues such as unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, and many others are raised. The xase study was selected because of the quantitative methods cannot offer a complete in-depth and holistic explanations of the behavioural as well as social problems associated with the Arab spring. The case study will enable the researcher to rise above the statistical results of the quantitative research and find out the behavioural conditions through the perspective of the actors. The case study will integrate both qualitative and quantitative data so as to explain the process of the Arab Spring as well as the outcome. The area of the focus will be Egypt, Tunisia and Libya while the study population will be various communities based groups that took part in one way or another in the revolutions. As mentioned earlier, the case study will be used to gather as well as analyse the existing data from the Arab Spring with the goal of ascertaining whether the Arab Spring was a success or failure. The secondary data will be sourced from books, academic journals such as Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, Journal of Palestine Studies, Journal of Democracy, Journal of International Affairs, and America Political Science Review. These sources will provide the evidence needed to explain the Arab Spring causations of as well as democracy dynamic in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. While carrying out the case study about the extent of success of failure of the Arab Spring, I will measure how democratisation has changed in these three countries so as to be able to effectively and accurately ascertain the consequences of the Arab Spring. The study will not only use secondary sources but also primary sources. The primary sources will comprise mainly of the newspaper articles, trial transcripts, photographs, personal narratives, correspondence, interviews and memoirs. The primary sources are beneficial because they are accurate and they record thoughts, feelings, and words from the primary data; therefore, provides depth that actually coagulates studies to which can be related to the general audience. 7. Structure 1. Title 2. Abstract 3. Introduction 4. Problem Analysis 5. Literature Review 6. Analysing the causes of success and failure in Tunisia 7. The effect of the internal relations in the army on the outcome of the revolution in Tunisia 8. Analysing the causes of success and failure in Libya 9. The effect of the internal relations in the army on the outcome of the revolution in Libya 10. Analysing the causes of success and failure in Egypt 11. The effect of the internal relations in the army on the outcome of the revolution in Egypt 12. Research Method 13. Results 14. Discussion 15. Conclusions 16. References 17. Appendices 8. Research timetable Task Person(s) Liable July August September October Feedback from Supervisor on Research design X Literature search and initial reading X Writing Introduction and Problem Analysis and and receive supervisory feedback X Writing literature review and receive supervisory feedback X Carrying out research X Writing results and discussion X Writing introduction and Conclusion, receive feedback X Writing Final draft X Referencing and proofreading X Submitting the final paper X 9. How will you utilise the help of your supervisor? I plan to utilise the help of my supervisor so as to complete this dissertation, especially in terms of advice and direction. The supervisor will be beneficial because he will offer an overview as well as more detailed comments crucial for the dissertation. The supervisor will offer guidance and help that could enable me to carry out the research as well as be able to present my results effectively. I will utilise the supervisor help because it would enable me to plan my research studies and could also help me to define my research topic, to identify specific tasks and schemes, to find the appropriate data bases, research literature as well as other relevant sources crucial for the dissertation. Given that the supervisor has a reasonable knowledge of the different source of information, he can offer advice on which sources are more relevant to the topic. The supervisor will keep me under review through regular meetings. The supervisor will help me understand whether the project is feasible as well as the possible risks that I could come across in the near future. For instance, the supervisor would help me overcome some problems like getting access to information and. Furthermore, the supervisor will help me to tailor the dissertation so as to meet the resource constraints such as time. The supervisor will help me from the start in finding relevant as well as useful reading material, in addition to suitable academic framework that I can place the selected topic. The advice from the supervisor will be helpful because it will enable me to choose an appropriate research approach. Moreover, my progress in the dissertation will be monitored and the supervisor will help advice on what to do so as to achieve a dissertation that is satisfactory and within the required standards. Comments and feedback from the supervisor will be important because it will help me focus on what is needed and how to effectively conduct an analytical research. The constructive recommendations offered by the supervisor will undoubtedly be helpful. For these reasons, I am certain I will use my supervisor help and ultimately provide a high quality dissertation that addresses the research questions. Read More