Governing Revolt: EU–North African Relations after the ‘Arab Spring’ Uprisings

Mullin, Corinna; Patel, Ian

Abstract

This article focuses on under-discussed external dimensions of the 2010–11 North African uprisings. In particular, it considers European Union liberal governance—in the form of economic ‘aid’, and ‘technical’ and transitional ‘assistance’—as both a form of intervention and a juridical-institutional force that has informed post-uprising states' development. This article also considers ways in which the EU's role in a broader security regime, consolidated in the post-9/11 period, overlaps with and reinforces the liberal-governance imperatives of ‘stability’ and ‘development’. It concludes by briefly assessing forms of resistance to liberal governance that have emerged in Egypt and Tunisia.

Citation

Mullin, C., & Patel, I. Governing Revolt: EU–North African Relations after the ‘Arab Spring’ Uprisings. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 9(2), 162-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2015.1020737

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Apr 7, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jan 6, 2015
• Journal: Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding
• Print ISSN: 1750-2977
• Electronic ISSN: 1750-2985
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 162-189
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2015.1020737
• Keywords: liberal governance, security, war on terror, neoliberalism, sovereignty, post-conflict intervention, resistance, Egypt, Tunisia