Part 2 What Basis for Statehood: Religion or Citizenship?, 2.3 State and Religion in the Aftermath of the Arab Uprisings

Nearly five years have elapsed since a series of uprisings began to convulse the Arab world, disrupting the status quo, toppling despotic rulers and dynastic regimes, dismantling Western policies and strategic alignments, and rendering much of the existing research and expertise on the region obsolete. Since 2011 an extensive amount has been written about these uprisings in a bid to explain, predict, and promote certain courses of action. From the outset the prevailing assumption among scholars was that the popular uprisings would lead to democratic, liberal,...