Last week FRIDE published the policy brief titled «The Role of New Media and Communication Technologies in Arab Transitions». It is my latest publication for FRIDE; in this case, and given that it deals with a topic outside my geographical area of expertise, it is co-authored with Barah Mikaïl, FRIDE colleage and expert on the Middle East and North Africa.
Below is the abstract of the paper, and the full document can be dowloaded by clicking here.
I hope you find it interesting, and if you have any comments, please post them below.

The Role of New Media and Communication Technologies in Arab Transitions
Information and Communication Technologies were an important catalyst of the Arab spring. They helped to bring down the Mubarak and Ben Ali regimes by mobilising important parts of the population and creating alternative discourses to authoritarian regimes, which found international backing. However, experiences from other parts of the world suggest that their role in sustaining the transition process in the longer run is less certain. ICTs can nonetheless support democratic consolidation by fostering an open public sphere and helping pro-democracy actors to remain engaged.