Liberal or social democracy? Aspect dawning in the EU's democracy promotion agenda in the Middle East

This article questions how liberal democracy has come to symbolise an ideal, or a universal set of values ready to be exported elsewhere in the world.1 It critically assesses the European Union's (EU's) almost messianic mission to promote its successful project of liberal democracy, and the ways in which the EU seeks to teach others about its meaning while refusing to aspect learn about alternative forms of political organisation in different contexts. It discusses the implications of such a narrow framing of EU conceptions of liberal democracy, drawing on extensive fieldwork carried out in Palestine and Egypt in September 2007 and March 2008, respectively. The article argues for a new framing of political transformation in the Middle East. It concludes by employing Aletta Norval's notion of aversive democracy to highlight the need for recognition of crucial aspects of political change that stem from what is emerging in the Middle East.