This question was actually sparked by discovering Egypt: The Moment of Change, edited by Rabab El Mahdi and Philip Marfleet, and published by Zed Books (http://www.zedbooks.co.uk/book.asp?bookdetail=4266). Published in 2009 it seeks to present "a series of analyses of politics, culture and society, including many by Egyptian academics and activists. It addresses the turmoil created by imposition of neo-liberal economic policies, the increasingly fragile nature of an authoritarian regime, the influence of movements for democratic opening and popular participation, and the impacts of Islamism."

Also, Tariq Ali visited Yemen and provides some useful context for the situation there in a piece that he wrote for the London Review of Books last year: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n06/tariq-ali/unhappy-yemen

Adam Shatz's pieces on Egypt for the LRB over the past year have been nuanced and incisive:

Joel Beinin from Stanford University is about to publish a collection of essays with Frederic Vairel: Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa: http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=18643

Although the Northern Africa angle is somewhat less overt in his treatment of the subject, Fawas Gerges' works provide a nuanced and comprehensive look at Islamism and ancillary issues across the Middle East. Islamism is only one element of the recent uprisings, but it is an important element in understanding different potential outcomes and their risks and benefits. Arguing from the perspective that each movement should be understood from within its context, Gerges illuminates why the West should be cautious and measured in its approach to, and understanding of, uprisings across the region.