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The Arab Awakening and the "Cascade" of Failing States

(Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy) Yoel Guzansky and Benedetta Berti - The post-revolutionary stabilization period is likely to both exacerbate preexisting cleavages as well as weaken central authority. As such, the short term may indeed be characterized by weak or failing states. This cascade of state weakness also extends to states that have not been at the center of the protests of the Arab Spring, such as Iraq. Failed states present international and regional terrorist organizations with a convenient base of operations and are more likely than other states to host terrorist organizations on their soil. Moreover, as the situation in Libya shows, a weak or failing state can also heighten the regional threat stemming from the proliferation of conventional arms. Yoel Guzansky, the former Iran coordinator at Israel's National Security Council, is a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, where Benedetta Berti is also a fellow.
2013-06-20 00:00:00
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