Dangerous Alliances: Civil Society, the Media and Democratic Transition in North Africa

Abbreviations p. viii Foreword Clovis Demers p. ix Acknowledgements p. xii Introduction p. 1 Part I The Public Arena in the Maghreb Convergences and Divergences p. 5 Setting the Stage p. 5 1 Tunisia - The Domination of Plato's Cave p. 7 The Tunisian Transition to Democracy Did Not take Place p. 8 'I am the State' p. 9 A Police State p. 11 A Legal System in Captivity p. 15 Alternation in Office Impossible p. 19 2 Tunisia - The Submission to Plato's Cave p. 24 Tunisian Civil Society before its Collapse p. 25 The Fatal Alliance p. 28 The Destruction of Al-Nahdha p. 31 The Undermining of the Tunisian League for Human Rights p. 34 3 Tunisia - Locking Up Plato's Cave p. 38 The Disadvantaged Media p. 39 How the Tunisian Media were Neutralized p. 42 Survival Strategies p. 46 The Happy Agenda p. 47 Relations with the Foreign Press p. 49 Banning International Human Rights Monitoring p. 52 Conclusion p. 54 4 Algeria - The Children of Jocasta p. 55 The Birth of Civil Society p. 56 The Oedipus Temptation p. 64 The Unfinished Business of Remaking the Public Arena p. 69 The Press and Its Role in Political Developments p. 71 Between Open Dissidence and 'Moderate' Opposition: Prospects for a Rebirth p. 77 5 Morocco - The Slow Ascent of Sisyphus p. 81 The Amaoui Affair p. 81 A Long Pluralistic Tradition p. 88 A Moroccan Model for the Construction of a Civil Society p. 94 Facilitating Factors and Obstacles p. 98 6 Conclusion - The Public Political Arena in the Maghreb p. 104 Part II The Aftermath of Dangerous Alliances Transformations and Continuities in the Political Arena p. 111 Between Cries and Whispers p. 111 7 Happy Tunisia - The Authorized Account p. 113 A Dream for Tourists and Foreign Investors p. 113 The Security Mania p. 116 The Show Democracy: Arguments and Techniques of Stage-Setting p. 121 The Quest for International Approval p. 124 Propaganda Achievements p. 126 8 The International Press and the Algerian Guardians of Democracy p. 129 The Rhetoric of Objectivity p. 130 How the International Press Took Sides in the Algerian Conflict p. 136 The Rebuilding of a Pluralistic Public Forum by the International Press p. 138 9 Tunisian Dissident Information Networks p. 146 Unarmed Prophets p. 147 In European Circles p. 152 Internal Dissidence p. 157 Discrediting Dissidents p. 160 The State of Tunisian Dissidence p. 166 10 Islam - Dismantling a Cliche p. 169 Propositions 1. Religion is a Marginal Theme in the Press p. 171 2. Islam is not the Explanation for Everything p. 172 3. Culturally, Islam is also a Product of Maghreb's Political Systems p. 172 Conclusion p. 176 11 Freedom or Tyranny? Perspectives in the Maghreb p. 180 Algeria p. 180 Tunisia p. 181 12 Towards a Sociology of Citizenship in a Globalizing World p. 185 A Political Systems Model p. 189 The Classical Democratic Model p. 190 A Dynamic Conflictual Model of Democracy p. 191 The International Media's Connivance with Dictatorship p. 198 Reversing the Spiral of Silence p. 200 Index p. 207.