Publication

This paper investigates what kind of actors armies are, particularly in authoritarian settings. Historically, authoritarian rulers have exerted extensive control through, and in some cases, deep engineering within, armies. But the latter have faced a real challenge when called upon to shoot at mass non-violent demonstrations. The paper concludes that armies are crucial factors in 2011 to understand the capacity of Middle Eastern regimes to withstand (or not) the new challenge of social mobilization, and, thereafter, the prospect of transition or of civil war.