10 years of protests in the Middle East and North Africa. Dynamics of mobilization in a complex (geo)political environment

A decade after the outbreak of protests in the Arab world, the processes of contestation and grassroots mobilisation continue to impact the Middle East. With the aim of understanding continuity and changes of the protest movements across time, as well as the political and geopolitical context in which they take place, the project “10 years of protests in the Middle East and North Africa. Dynamics of mobilization in a complex (geo)political environment” jointly conducted by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale (CeSPI), analyses the local, national and regional dimensions of the mobilisation processes in the region over the last decade.

Seven case studies have been selected from both the “first” and the “second wave” of protests – Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia – and the project seeks to analyse the composition, strategies and claims of the protest movements; the reaction of and interaction with governments and major political forces in each national context; and the role of regional and international powers. In addition to the analysis of the mobilisation dynamics in each case study, the project includes a comparative study of the experiences of protest in the seven countries, a policy paper focusing on the role of and perceptions from the EU, and three op-eds containing policy recommendations. .

Funding: Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation