Why have none of the twenty-two Arab countries participated in the worldwide move toward liberalization? In his important but frustrating book Over-Stating the Arab State, Nazih Ayubi argues that, paradoxically, some Arab states might move toward liberalization—if they were strong enough to overcome the political and cultural forces that favor authoritarianism.
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Timur Kuran is Professor of Economics and Political Science, Gorter Family Chair in Islamic Studies, and Associate Director of the Islamic Studies Center at Duke University.
