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# Nathalie Tocci
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/nathalie-tocci/
- Published: 2011-05-04T14:05:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-17T11:12:13.000Z
- Author: Nathalie Tocci
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:59, #ImagesUploaded

In 2011 a wave of democratic uprisings swept across the Arab world. Overcoming authoritarianism in one of the regions in which it had been most deeply entrenched, sparked a broader trend of political change in the world. Against all odds, the mobilization, with the aid of new technologies, of a largely unorganized civil society, in the past suppressed by authoritarianism made this possible. Yet in order to overcome the resilience of authoritarianism, another change was necessary: the desecuritization of Western foreign policies and a genuine Western commitment to democratic change. Much like in Eastern Europe, in the Middle East too, the US and EU began seeing a congruence between their strategic interests and normative rhetoric and thus developed well-thought out policies to spur (or at least not hinder) a democratic transformation of the region.

![Swords-Plowshares.jpg](https://www.opendemocracy.net/content/files/2026/04/Swords-Plowshares_EWSMFuG-1776424220859.jpg)

Swords-Plowshares.jpg

Author: Nathalie Tocci