Transitional Justice in the Arab World: Fortune and Misfortune
The revolutionary forces that shook the Arab world in 2011 were fighting for more just societies. Justice, however, is difficult to bring about in post-dictatorship transitional phases.
The new authorities may be tempted to use heavy-handed methods to deal with the risk of counter-revolution. The process of transitional justice is being implemented more successfully in Tunisia than in Egypt or Libya, where arbitrary detentions and summary hearings are increasingly widespread.
Article published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 79, No. 3, Fall 2014