The EU and the Arab Spring: Comparing the EU’s Role in Algeria and Egypt
The phenomenon known as the Arab Spring, initiated in 2011 in Tunisia, had strong economic, political and social consequences for North Africa and Middle East. However, political outcomes were distinct in every country, and some of those processes are not yet finished. While in Egypt and Libya the regimes changed and altered the political environment, others like Morocco and Algeria kept the same regime. However, the internal dynamics of the Arab Spring have already been studied by the academia; the next step is to understand the external factors of these political processes. The European Union, as a close neighbor of the region, is also feeling the consequences of the revolutions. This article seeks to examine the EU’s influence in the political processes of Algeria and Egypt during the Arab Spring, two countries in which the revolutions have had different political results. The final goal of this article is to understand if, among all external factors, the EU’s role was a key factor in Egypt’s regime change after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, and in maintaining Abdelaziz Bouteflika as President of Algeria.
Rodrigo Gomes Quintas da Silva . rodrigo.rgqs@hotmail.com
ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
I’m a student of the Master in International Studies, from ISCTE-IUL, and Assisting Editor in “Media and Communication”, an Open Access Journal of Cogitatio Press. I also have a Bachelor in Political Science and International Affairs, and an internship experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I have published a policy paper in Contraditório Think Tank about the EU-Russia relations, and I usually collaborate with European Student Think Tank in writing articles on European foreign policy.