Hazem’s project seeks to explore how social involvement in war undermines authoritarian rule, pursuing the hypothesis that popular engagement in war forces political concessions from leaders under the threat of street violence.
To make this argument, it will be necessary to show not only that increased popular engagement in war has historically coincided with increased popular uprisings (and corresponding political concessions), but also that seasoned soldiers played a central role in leading these uprising.
Practically speaking, this requires building two large databases for France and Egypt that record the intensity of popular participation in war, on the one hand, and the spread of popular uprisings, on the other hand, before and after the change in the organization of war. For France, this would be the period between 1600 and 1900. For Egypt, the period would be longer, between 1100 and 1500.
Image Credit: G8 summit Rostock by Mr.T tourist [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0].