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The EU's Interpretation of the ‘ A rab Uprisings’: Understanding the Different Visions about Democratic Change in EU‐MENA Relations
Author(s) -
Pace Michelle
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/jcms.12159
Subject(s) - vision , democracy , political science , politics , political economy , regime change , interpretation (philosophy) , european neighbourhood policy , democracy promotion , political change , economics , sociology , law , democratization , anthropology , computer science , programming language
This article focuses on how the EU has interpreted the Arab uprisings as they unfolded in the Middle E ast and N orth A frica ( MENA ) since D ecember 2010. EU actors have long acknowledged limits in the EU 's strategy towards its southern neighbourhood, which largely bypasses the demands of local populations. The article analyzes the EU 's efforts at recreating an ‘enhanced’ framework of support for political reforms in the south. It concludes that the EU and local partners in the south still have different ‘visions’ regarding democratic change, which shows the limitations of the EU 's understanding of the MENA region.