In the wake of the Arab uprisings, Bahrain, Libya, Syria and Yemen experienced military interventions following popular protests absent civil strife where citizens coalesced around common grievances. Why did external actors pursue military interventions during the Arab uprisings? What prompted such interventions? This article explicates the structural conditions underpinning external interventions during the MENA region’s largest pro-democracy wave. I posit the simultaneity of the protests within a given temporal setting produced a permissive strategic environment that created a window of opportunity for external actors to alter the balance of power to maintain competing spheres of influence. The cross-national comparison contributes novel case studies to the extant literature on foreign military interventions to illustrate how and why regional shocks structure interest and opportunity for states seeking to leverage geostrategic interests through military interventions.

在阿拉伯起义之后，巴林、利比亚、叙利亚和也门在没有内乱的民众抗议之后经历了军事干预，民众因共同的不满而团结起来。为什么外部行为者在阿拉伯起义期间寻求军事干预？是什么促使了这种干预？本文解释了在中东和北非地区最大的民主浪潮期间支持外部干预的结构性条件。我假设在给定的时间环境中抗议的同时性产生了一个宽松的战略环境，为外部参与者创造了一个机会之窗，可以改变权力平衡以维持竞争的势力范围。