Democratic Transition or Involution? The International Factor in the Arab Spring, The cases of Tunisia and Egypt

Among the countries that went through the 2011 revolutionary outbreak, Egypt and Tunisia are two especially interesting cases due to similar pathways both countries followed at the beginning of the uprisings and which drastically changed in the first year from the revolution. While in the Tunisian case a successful transition, with all its uncertainties and problems, took place; in Egypt the outcome is completely different and instead of a transition process we should speak of an authoritarian regression. In order to understand the different evolution of both countries, it is essential to refer to the international context in which the uprisings took place. In this article, and while the domestic dynamics of both countries are addressed, the main goal is to move from a national to an international focus of analysis taking into account the international dimension and to assess how it directly impacts on national political outcomes. In this sense, we conclude that, although direct international support for democratization is not a sine qua non condition for successful transitions, it is fundamental that there is no international opposition to the transition processes.