Mapping Opposition Cooperation in the Arab World: From Single-Issue Coalitions to Transnational Networks

This is an introductory contribution to a special issue on the dynamics of opposition cooperation in the Arab world, a phenomenon that, although commonplace, has received limited attention in the comparative literature on the region. Mapping its varied empirical manifestations, this contribution presents a twofold typology of joint opposition action, based on the objectives (single vs. multiple issues) and actors (domestic/foreign) involved. Thus circumscribed, it identifies and discusses the trademarks of the following four types of opposition cooperation: (1) the ad hoc/single-issue coalition; (2) the reform coalition; (3) the pre-electoral alliance and post-election parliamentary block; and (4) transnational networks of collaboration.