Arab Democracy Depends on Normalizing Islamist Parties
Even as war and authoritarianism seize the region, several countries have demonstrated the necessity of bringing these groups into the fold.
The perennial question of whether democracy can work in the Middle East isn’t always easy to answer. Generally, it worked. But amid civil war in Yemen, Libya, and Syria, authoritarian resurgence in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and economic instability in Jordan, there are at least three cases that challenge the notion that it can’t happen here. Tunisia, which held its first post-revolution in May, continues to be a (relative) bright spot. Then there are the more unlikely cases of Iraq as well as Lebanon—probably the world’s most successful
