Has the Arab Spring Produced a Chasm between the Revolutionary and Status Quo Countries in the Arab World?

While some experts predicted that the Arab rebellions of spring 2011 (and beyond) would widen the strategic, political, and even ideological gap between Arab states undergoing dramatic change and those defending the status quo, in fact, no such clear breach has occurred. Instead, Dawisha argues that economic crisis, escalating Shi’i-Sunni tensions, and the associated realpolitik concerns of the Western powers have dampened the potentially incendiary demonstration effect of Arab political revolts on the course of both domestic political change and regional politics.