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Germany and the Arab Spring

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Germany and the Arab Spring
Accroche

Much of the analyses of German reactions to the Arab Spring uprisings have focused on Germany’s contentious decision relating to Libya. By siding with the critics of military intervention in abstaining from UNSC 1973, Germany vexed its allies and arguably displayed an astonishing lack of geostrategic foresight and moral rectitude.

Corps analyses

Germany, many noted, had clearly failed to grasp the geopolitical significance of events in the Arab world and was neither able nor willing to support the project of a democratic Middle East. This is wrong. Beyond all the finger-wagging and public chastisements over the Libya intervention, Germany has played a key role in pushing reform of the EU’s Mediterranean policies and has broken new ground in its relationship with emerging Arab democracies. While Germany clearly lacks the geostrategic ambitions and capacities of France or the UK, it has become a more proactive and independent regional player following the Arab Spring.

The Middle East and North Africa has traditionally been a region of limited strategic importance for Germany. With the notable exception of Israel, and at times Iran, Germany held few clear interests in the region and has largely failed to articulate a comprehensive regional approach of its own. Instead, it has been content with having its partners set the regional agenda, while quietly pursuing its limited commercial interests. On regional security issues, Germany followed the US lead. Within the EU, Germany consented to French dominance but advocated a balanced approach between Europe’s southern and eastern neighborhoods. When Germany did intervene, it was usually in order to curb French ambitions, such as during the Mediterranean Union debate, or in order to safeguard Israeli interests. Beyond that, German diplomacy was cautious not to get embroiled in the region’s multiple crises or to interfere with the regional ambitions of its allies.

 

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978-2-36567-100-2

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Germany and the Arab Spring

Decoration
Author(s)
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Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Türkiye
Turkey/Middle East Program
Accroche centre

Ifri's Turkey/Middle East Program aims to provide expertise on the trends and developments in politics, societies and economies across the region.

The programme has the following objectives:

  • Proposing a new approach towards the MENA region through an analysis of local, regional, and international dynamics with the potential to guide and influence new policies.
  • Highlighting the role of foreign powers which have traditionally been present in the region and analyzing the new role taken on by emerging countries ;
  • Anticipating new directions and outlooks in each country.
  • Interpreting risks and potentials and putting forward new templates for analysis.

The programme has built a dense network of researchers and experts who provide expertise on the MENA region and working together on a range of crosscutting themes.

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Date de publication
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Accroche

How has the Iranian strategic discourse about nuclear weapons and deterrence evolved? 

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Turkey and France - Allies or Rivals: Opportunities to be Seized

Date de publication
24 June 2025
Accroche

As international relations have become increasingly unpredictable, the quest is to find a semblance of normality. Alliances are shifting as interests are changing. The so-called order established after the Second World War is being shattered by those who have given so much to create it. Global relations are being transformed by countries that wish to follow the rules and others that want to circumvent or ignore them. In this uncertain environment, it is therefore all the more crucial to find stable allies.

Selim YENEL
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RAMSES 2025. Between Powers and Powerlessness

Date de publication
04 September 2024
Accroche

Never before have there been so many powers able to upset the international balance of power, and never before have the dominant powers seemed so powerless to counter the fragmentation of the world.

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Out of Thin Air but More than a Mirage: The Politics of Saudi Arabia's Nascent Music Industry

Date de publication
18 December 2024
Accroche

This study critically examines Saudi Arabia’s nascent music industry, which is promoted as a key element of Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strategic framework to diversify the kingdom’s economy. It explores how state-led investments in music and entertainment intersect with authoritarian governance. The author neither dismisses these investments as conspicuous spending nor reproduces an alarmist narrative of impending cultural imperialism. The article takes a political sociology approach to understand how Saudi entertainment plans consolidate domestic power and reshape regional cultural landscapes.

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Germany and the Arab Spring