Contentious Politics in the Middle East: Political Opposition under Authoritarianism

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments It is by the very nature of a collective volume that the list of people who contributed to its appearance is longer than usual. First of all, I owe the authors of this book a great debt of gratitude not only for generating a fine piece of collective scholarship but, all the more so, for tremendously facilitating my own job. The inspiration, commitment, and patience which were brought into this volume by its authors rendered the task of arranging the contributions a delightful exercise. My own curiosity about the topic discussed in this volume started to emerge at Tübingen University, where I spent almost fifteen years, first studying and then lecturing on Middle Eastern and comparative politics. In the course of studying political opposition in Egypt, I found that the topic was far too intriguing to leave it to a single country study. I am deeply indebted to Peter Pawelka, whose patience, guidance, and trust furthered my study. Thanks to him, I was fortunate to have enjoyed an unusual amount of freedom to reach beyond the designated topic and engage in the collaborative project that triggered this book. During my Tübingen years, I met many bright people in the Middle East Research Forum who have, at one point or another, inspired my own ideas about the topic. At the risk of omitting one or another person, I shall say that I will not forget the stimulating discussions that I had with André Bank, Roy Karadag, Julius Kirchenbauer, Kevin Köhler, Markus Loewe, and Oliver Schlumberger. Not the least, I was lucky that people in Tübingen still remembered me when I came back in summer 2009 to escape the heat in Cairo and finalize this manuscript. I owe particular thanks to Rolf Frankenberger and Josef Schmid for facilitating my homecoming. Apart from Peter Pawelka and the contributors to this volume, Maye Kassem has the greatest stake in the project from which this book originates. I am very grateful that she agreed to jointly organize a workshop at the occasion of the Eighth Mediterranean Research Meeting, arranged in March 2007 by the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence and Montecatini Terme, Italy. Maye and I invited a bunch of wonderful people with whom we had inspiring discussions and a good x / Acknowledgments time. The majority of authors in this volume joined us in Montecatini Terme; among those who contributed to our discussions, but not to this book, were Michaelle Browers, Steve Heydemann, and Eberhard Kienle. As always, Imco Brouwer and his team did a great job in organizing the meeting and making our workshop a success. Some scholars could not come to Florence, but I met them on other occasions and had the chance to engage with them in discussions about the topic of this book; for sharing their own ideas and comments with me, I owe debt in particular to Mirjam Künkler, Ellen Lust-Okar, Samer Shehata, and Eva Wegner. Much of my editorial work was accomplished in the first half of 2008, at the Center for the Study of Democracy at Leuphana University, Lüneburg. Many thanks go to Ferdinand Müller-Rommel, who took me on board despite the fact that I threatened not to contribute much to the study of democracy. While my colleagues in Lüneburg conceded that they did not have much expertise on authoritarianism in general, and the Middle East in particular, colleagues became friends, and I spent a short but wonderful and productive time in Lüneburg. The fact that this book materialized neither in Tübingen nor in Lüneburg is indicative of the long period that it took to bear fruit—and it is embarrassing to say that the blame must be put solely on the editor—but also of a young researcher’s vagabonding in search of a job in academia. Finally, the American University in Cairo, in September 2008, allowed me to settle in Egypt, join its political science department, and spend some time to finalize this book. At AUC, I owe gratitude to Eric Goodfield, Ann Lesch, Javed Maswood, Tim Sullivan, Dan Tschirgi, and—again, especially—Maye Kassem. Last, but certainly not least, this book would not have been possible without the dedication and prudent guidance of Amy Gorelick at the University Press of Florida, and the guidance of two anonymous referees who made important and constructive comments to improve the manuscript. During crunch time, that is...