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Democratic uprisings in the New Middle East: youth, technology, human rights, and US Foreign Policy

examined in the book (p. 14). However, the main variation in the variable of interest is observed between Tunisia and the two other cases. While Buehler uses strong secondary evidence on Tunisia, it could have helped to readjust the focus of empirical comparison between Tunisia and one of the two failure cases. Second, the formation of opposition alliances is relatively undertheorised. To be fair, the book never claims to do so and defers the argument to the existing literature. However, since alliance formation falls in the middle of the timeline of the book’s argument, readers may seek further theorising on the formation of alliances as well. Finally, while the book’s discussion on alternative explanations on opposition alliances and their weaknesses is very strong, the case studies do not provide a strong corresponding evidence to reject these arguments. In my reading, Buehler situates his own theory in the literature in interaction with some of the alternative explanations, rather than rejecting them. Whereas scholars usually have an urge to reject alternative explanations, as social phenomena are complex, it is natural that different aspects of the phenomena can be explained through the interaction of different arguments. Despite these issues, Buehler has produced a strong, insightful and well-written book packed with original and fascinating evidence on opposition alliances in North Africa. He makes important theoretical and methodological contributions thanks to his systematic theory, well-rounded evidence and the additional step taken to the subnational level, moving beyond a strong national-level analysis. Scholars and practitioners who are interested in opposition politics, regime survival strategies and social structures at the regional and international levels will benefit from Why Alliances Fail.