This article explores the relationship between security and democracy in Morocco. It discusses the state’s behavior towards the popular uprisings, how it responds to the social movements demands, and how it manages the security unrests. Throughout, the discussion throws a light on the democratization process of the security sector, in particular, and on the trajectory of democratic transition in the kingdom, in general.

The thesis of political Islam’s failure reignites a deep discussion of fundamental questions. At the same time, it opens the door for a discussion of post Islamism as a concept, a term, and a phase. The term “post-Islamism,” like every “post-” term, is undoubtedly characterized by an extremely fluid definition. This leads to certain interpretations expiring without establishing others and to profound transformations occurring within an intellectual and social phenomenon that presages that it will evolve away from its original form. In no circumstance, however, will what comes after resemble what came before. The aspects of the relationship and similarity between the two phases largely remains relative and ambiguous. Although the use of the term “post-Islamism” dates back decades, in particular to the 1990s, it has once again returned to the spotlight, more prominently now than ever, as several Islamist movements are advancing further on the path to accepting democracy, political pluralism, and power-sharing. Several Islamist movements in the Arab and Islamic world today are embracing public and individual freedoms, and advocating a separation of religion and politics. This article examines the concept of post-Islamism, its legitimacy, and credibility as a fundamental shift in Islamist rhetoric and behavior, as well as the causes leading to it, and the conditions, obstacles, and realistic models of this concept or its approximates, both Sunni and Shiite, in the Arab or Muslim world.

This article tackles the issue of sovereignty in the Moroccan political system and argues that there are formally two sources of legitimacy, royal and democratic, with deeper implications for decision-making and political power. The article analyzes this phenomena as enshrined in the Moroccan constitution of 2011 and identifies the characteristics of a political system quite different from known democratic systems. This concept of political power makes the elected institutions play a secondary representative function compared with the high and transcendent representation of the royal institution.

This article argues that differences in Arab authoritarian regimes were mainly linked to the relationship between the state, the political party in power and the military. By exploring such differences in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria prior to the 2011 crisis, they are explained in the context of the political changes that ensued in the wake of the crisis. How the army played the dual role of instigating change while impeding it at crucial points in the transitional process is described. The mutual lack of autonomy between the state, the party and the military appears to have been a key factor in impeding change, whereas a clear separation of the functions of these institutions was more likely to enable political change to come about.

This paper draws on the economic and political sciences literature to examine the possibility that the Arab Spring could bring the region out of the past vicious circle by which regional integration is stalled by political tensions and the latter are exacerbated by the lack of integration. This analysis suggests that the outcome depends on a number of factors, among which democracy plays a major role. Arguments based on the relationship between human capital and the development of democracy are put forward to support the likelihood of a virtuous circle developing.

This article is a call to re-examine current Arab epistemology in behavioural sciences in order to develop an Arab grown set of tools and concepts that will contribute to the civilization renewal as promoted by the Arab Renaissance Project. In particular, some thoughts relating to debates about ‘freedom’, ‘state’, and ‘democracy’ are provided.

A survey commissioned by the Center of Arab Unity Studies (CAUS), and carried out in late 2009 and early 2010, was the first Arab public opinion survey on democracy of its kind. This article presents its findings and contextualizes the analyses in the debate that has marked Arab political thinking on democracy as a system of good governance. The purpose of the survey was to shed light on the attitudes of ordinary Arabs with respect to democracy. Contrary to approaches that sought to explain the democratic deficit in the Arab world by virtue of its inherently ‘undemocratic’ culture and the Islamic religion, democratic elements are not absent from Arab culture and Arab people are yearning for democracy. The article analyses and compares the results with those of other surveys to conclude that contemporary Arabs are no exception and they have the same attitudes shared by humanity at large with respect to democracy as a solid political base for a fair system of governance.

The presence of Muslim populations in Western European societies is a relatively new phenomenon which is raising questions about how these societies treat religious minorities. This article considers the situation in Sweden, beginning with a brief history of the development of the Swedish state from one based on the Lutheran faith to today's secular society in which state and religion are officially separated. It moves on to discuss the emergence of a sizable Muslim population in the latter part of the 20th century and considers the ways in which the secular character and religious neutrality of the state offer such religious minorities space to practise their religions. However, as Swedish society, politics and law are still premised on certain Christian notions of what religion should be, Muslims and more particularly Islamic organizations in the country have to find ways to adapt themselves to these pre-existing religious structures. Thus the presence of a large Muslim minority has affected the mindset of the members of this minority as well as the Swedish host society.

This paper sets out to disentangle what is discernible from the historical record and the evidence from legendary accounts of the spread of Islam by conquest. It argues that rather than by the sword, Islam came to Spain through the development and succession of ideas. The paper further deconstructs the theory of Islamic governance, attributing forms of rule not to Islamic teachings but to prevailing power structures and struggles. It is contended that what is known of specific incidents reaches us through the narration of the incident, rather than by its physical existence. If a serious event takes place, it reaches us through a serious Hadith (like the Prophet's Hadith), but if the incident is not very significant or did not take place at all – but an authority wants it to have happened – it reaches us as a legend. The legend starts where history ends, and takes its place to complete the story's events. History depicts and legend narrates.

This paper presents the discourse, or more often the struggle, between secularists and Islamists in Tunisia relating religion and the state within the desired democratic system. The movement of 18 October is a landmark in the efforts for constructive work between different political constituents which emphasized that the relationship between religion and the state is not expected to have a ready-made formula; instead, it is the product of a social pact that interacts with politics, culture and economics. The paper looks into the basis or foundation for cooperation, the feasibility of the merger between religion and the state, the timing – before or after democracy takes hold – the focus on form and substance of democracy, its connection to laws, etc. Whereas it may be possible to separate religion from the state, it is not possible to separate it from politics as this requires a dissociation of some devout believers from their system of belief, thus denying their basic rights. There are no guarantees that within a democratic system some groups and parties basing themselves on religion will be against democracy. These groups should remain part of the political system, the solution being to honour a social pact that is based on respecting constitutional institutions, national identity, principles of the republican system and human rights.

From a historical perspective, there has always existed a distinction between the state and religion in Islam, yet no separation. Moreover, there are many types of secularism and many interpretations in Islam. The elite in Tunisia adopts the French type of secularism whereby a most complete separation between the state and religion exists. The case advanced here is that a large part of the unfolding discussions and debates in the context of the ongoing struggle is based on an ambiguous understanding of secularism and Islam. Secularism is not an atheist philosophy, but a series of arrangements and measures designed to ensure freedom of thought and belief. The way of arriving at an equation that guarantees people's rights and freedoms is by delineating religion's constants and variables. Modern democratic mechanisms are the best manifestation of shura in Islam, whereby interpretation is no longer an individual act but a collective one performed by the people's representatives.

The subject of this paper is a case study based on evidence gathered informally through delivery of a course at Birzeit University entitled ‘Modern and Contemporary European Civilization’ and from end-of-semester evaluations that asked students to reflect on the impact of the course on their lives. The author is, naturally, aware of the limitation of the methodology used in this study, and does not claim that its findings can be generalized authoritatively to a wider group of people in the Arab world. What is clear, however, if one considers reviews of internet blogs and media programme debates, is that extrapolations from this evidence have wider reference, revealing commonalities and similarities between Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories and Arab youth involved in the Arab Spring on the subject of political reform. The discussions engaged in by my students actually parallel the debates generated by traditionalists and secularists in post-revolution Egypt and Tunisia. These debates revolve around what it means to live in a civil, democratic state that grants social justice and freedoms, and crucially, at present led by scholars and politicians, address the possibility of reconciling the concept of modernity with Islam and the legislative framework of Islamic law ( sharīʿah ). It could be argued that the data collected are specific to this one case study, since Palestinians living under Israeli occupation form a unique group in the Arab world and probably are more concerned with basic issues of daily life and more sensitive to Western concepts of modernity. The significance of this data is, however, that gathered during the Arab Spring, they were based on reactions to material covered in a class which related to issues raised by the Arab revolutions, such as democracy, liberalism and revolution. Furthermore, these tentative findings suggest that more research is needed into issues such as the role of education, gender, tolerance and the reconciliation of Islam with modernity – areas of interest which are of particular importance at a time when Islamic groups are winning elections and debates on concepts of authority, democracy and liberalism occupy the foreground of media programmes in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia.

The uprisings of the Arab Spring have highlighted the weakness of traditional opposition actors that have been unable to predict and lead the revolutions. This paper, focusing on the case of Morocco, examines how the discourses and practices of the regime shaped the complex field of Political Islam, contributing to two distinct but interlinked phenomena. On the one hand, they have managed to lead Islamists and liberal secularists to overcome many of their previous divisions to sustain common battles in the name of democracy and human rights. On the other hand, they have deepened rifts and divisions among Islamists themselves on the crucial issue of political reforms.

The Arab Renaissance Project (ARP) is a landmark document in the history of contemporary Arab nationalism. It represents the major concerns of Arab nationalists and their proposed narrative. It covers the major issues discussed by intellectuals, scholars, and political activists in the Arab world. ARP is likely to continue generating debates about the particulars of the proposed program.

Sudan is facing the most crucial challenge of its history with the referendum on unity in the South planned for January 2011. In this paper, the two authors attempt to assess the nature of the challenge, and explore possible scenarios and options for dealing with the decision and its aftermath. The central argument is that there is a need for a radical restructuring of the Sudanese state to enable and promote a sense of belonging and nationhood which could safeguard unity and avoid a recurrence of conflict. Taking its cue from the emerging consensus among the main actors to safeguard unity within a loose federal/confederal framework, the paper argues that devising a flexible and inclusive system of governance capable of accommodating Sudan's diversity is the key to meeting this challenge. In the short term, there is a need to adopt a more realistic and pragmatic approach based on accommodating the interests of key political players. The international community also needs to be more proactive and engaged that at present.

This paper reviews how the civilizational discourse of Islam differs from that of democracy but doesn't necessarily mean that it contradicts it. Knowing that this juxtaposition promotes diversity and distinction, this paper elucidates the factors of ambiguity that surround this religion and system in order to uncover the real dimension of their distinction. The paper is organized as follows: first, it presents seven characteristics of the Islamic state. Next, it discusses the importance of consultation ( al‐shūrā ) and the necessity of questioning the rulers in Islam. Third, the article answers the question “Where does democracy correspond to Islam and where does it differ?”. Several prominent opinions are examined in the fourth part, before displaying the main positions from the 1980s, vis‐à‐vis democracy, in part five. Part six exhibits the fatwas of al‐Qaradawi. At the end of the article, the paper emphasizes the approaches that can be taken towards Islamic ruling ( sharīʿah ).

This article discusses the composition of the new 2009 Parliament in Kuwait and compares changes in its composition with the outgoing one, dealing with factors which contributed to the historic victory of women and the demise of the organized political blocs. It traces Kuwait's unique pioneering experience in democracy in the region and sheds light on how economic development and oil politics have altered the historical dynamics between state and society. It concludes by forecasting the future malaise of Kuwaiti politics if changes are not made and provides feasible recommendations to possibly overhaul the system or even amend the Constitution.

Despite the introduction of important liberalization measures, Egypt still suffers from serious democratic deficits. Mubarak's inconsistent political reforms, especially since the 2005 legislative elections, have raised many questions and revived the discussion on whether Egypt is heading in a democratic direction. This article contributes to this discussion by investigating the political process under Mubarak's regime and critically analysing the 2005 legislative elections and the 2007 constitutional amendments. It argues that the behaviour of the Egyptian regime since the 2005 elections, particularly with the introduction of the 2007 constitutional amendments, demonstrates its determination to re-consolidate its authoritarian practices.

The global fight against corruption has gained momentum in the last two decades when its adverse effects on national economies, professional practice and the promotion of democracy and governance, have become clear. Yet the Arab region remained resistant towards these efforts. This paper traces the steps that have been taken to introduce an indigenous initiative in this regard and reports on developments which have been put in place in Arab countries to combat corruption.