Through detailed exploration of events in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Syria and Yemen, Sean Burns here breaks down the concept of professionalism within the armed forces into its component parts and demonstrates how variation in military structures determines their behaviour. In so doing, and by emphasising historical context and drawing on a wide range of political science theory, Burns sheds fresh light onto the ways in which military structure affects the potential for democratic transition or the course of civil war. With this book he presented a wide-ranging study of the Middle East which provides key tools to understanding the opportunities for democratisation, both during the Arab Spring and beyond, and which is therefore essential reading for anyone working on the Middle East, popular uprisings and the politics of repression.

'After years of neglect, the study of civil-military relations in the Middle East has reemerged as an important area of study in the wake of the 2011 Arab uprisings. This book successfully brings together significant theoretical insights about the roles that Arab militaries played in the uprisings alongside an impressive range of case studies. Grounded in a robust theoretical framework, the book offers us a rich trove of empirical data and historical background into what was and continues to be one of the defining dynamics of the Arab Spring uprisings.' - Mehran Kamrava, Georgetown University-Qatar and author of Inside the Arab State

Sean Burns received his PhD from Northwestern University in Illinois and is currently aVisiting Assistant Professor at the College of William and Mary. He has previously published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences internationally on military structures and many other areas of Middle East politics.