Before the arab spring uprising, most countries in the middle east and. While western influencein the region will inevitably decline as a result, the arab revolutions also have an undeniable potential to enhance. Causes, prospects and implications thepopular uprisings in egypt and tunisia have been triggered by a combination of deteriorating living standards and growing inequality an economic deficit,a lack of political freedoms and public. Like germany, england and france in the second world war, most of syria is destroyed. Arab spring libya 360 libya after moammar gaddafi the washington post. Although the arab framework is important, other perspectives can also yield invaluable insights. There was a definite demonstration effect driving the arab spring, evident from the speed with. Arab spring has been regarded as an arab phenomenon from the outset, explanations that are given of the arab spring have been ad hoc and are not representative of the entire arab world. Causes of the arab spring the wave of social protests that swept through the arab world during 2011, toppling some longstanding regimes and seriously destabilizing others, was the.
It also highlights the events of the civil uprisings which led to the removal of some rulers. To answer this question a comparative analysis is made of arab countries during the arab. Those memos have been published as pomeps studies 10 reflections on the arab uprisings. At the eve of the arab spring, one out of four egyptians and tunisians young was out of employment. Politics comes first gadi wolfsfeld 1, elad segev2, and tamir sheafer3 abstract the goal of this article is to place the role that social media plays in collective action within a more general theoretical structure, using the events of the arab spring as a case study. On thursday, the countrys prime minister was booed off stage at a town hall in the southern city of tataouine, where a general strike was taking place. Causes, consequences, and implications if, one day, a people desire to live, then fate will answer their call. Pdf an assessment of the 2011 arab spring uprising. Causes of the arab spring the wave of social protests that swept through the arab world during 2011, toppling some long.
However, the recent arab uprisings, better known as the arab spring, have intensified volatility, turning this hotspot into a veritable tinderbox. Most of the books chapters show in detail how the regional uprising was refracted through national political systems. The arab spring movement actually originated in december 2010 when police in tunisia seized mohamed bouazizis fruit and vegetable stand. What subversive role did literature play in the runup to the uprisings in the arab world. Inequality, uprisings, and conflict in the arab world october 2015 public disclosure authorized public disclosure authorized public disclosure authorized. In the flood of newspaper articles, media documentaries, online blogs, youtube postings, and scholarly articles that followed the rebellions and worldwide protests in 20112012, there is however a remarkable feature of the protests that has remained mostly unrecognized, untheorized, and certainly not analyzed comparatively this was the salient. Arab spring research guide and notes sheet introduction. Its causes and consequences 3 arab countries barany, 2011. Gerges, professor of international relations at the london school of economics and author of contentious politics in the middle east. Unlike other revolutions in the world, like the french revolution and others, the arab revolutions did.
Despite strife at its borders and an influx of refugees connected to the syrian civil war and the rise of isis, as well as its own version of the arab spring with protests and popular mobilization demanding change, jordan managed to avoid political upheaval. New contentious politics in the middle east to write short memos assessing their contributions critically after having another year to reflect. Of the four major arab spring protests analyzedtunisia, egypt, libya, and bahrain. Aug 28, 2019 the arab spring was a series of antigovernment protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the middle east in early 2011. This collection should be of considerable interest to students of international relations, particularly those with an interest in the politics of the middle east and north africa.
In 2018, egypt marked the seventh anniversary of the arab spring uprising by closing off routes to tahrir square. These successful uprisings had punctured the aura of the allpowerful, authoritarian arab state, and released millions from their onceparalyzing fear of the states handmaiden the ubiquitous and brutal security forces. He returned to his country in 2011 after forty years in exile. Arab uprisings had many aspects that previous demonstrations and protest did not. The arab spring was a series of antigovernment protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the middle east in early 2011. Networks formed online were crucial in organizing a core group of activists, specifically in egypt. As egyptians mark seventh year since 2011 revolution, authorities seal off tahrir square to prevent potential protests. Protests started with a selfimmolation in samtah and jeddah street protests in late january 2011.
Ralph schoolcraft department of international studies the arab spring has been misidentified as purely a struggle for democracy and political. The economic conditions that bred a political uprising. And their night will then begin to fade, and their chains break and fall. This uprising sent tremors across the region and shook each and every corner of the globe. The armed forces played a decisive role in many of the arab uprisings, particularly the early ones. In protest, the young street vendor set himself on fire in front of a government building. The role of intellectuals in the arab uprisings is a question that arab thinkers themselves have pondered. Later, similar rebellions followed in libya, bahrain, syria and yemen. Thi s researc h articl e attempts to scrutinize the nature and cause s of the ara b uprising s which too k people by surpris e globall y throughou t 2011 and int o 2012. Social media indeed played a part in the arab uprisings. The arab spring may have awakened the entire middle east with a taste of democracy in a few countries, but syria has seen the adverse effects of it. They also wanted more democracy, and end to corruption, and economic opportunity. Demonstrators expressing political and economic grievances faced violent crackdowns by their countries security forces. The arab spring refers to a period of protests beginning on december 18, 2010 in tunisia, which quickly spread to numerous other arab nations and resulted in regime change in tunisia, libya, egypt, and yemen, and repression andor violence in syria, bahrain, sudan, and elsewhere.
For decades, arab populations had faced repression of free speech, human rights abuses, economic mismanagement, corruption and stifling of political dissent. And should prose, poetry and other literary genres devote themselves entirely to the revolution or maintain a critical distance. Even though the arab spring was a historic moment in the politics of the middle east, short and longterm changes and impacts in the structure remain unpredictable. From 2010 until 2012, waves of protests spread across the arab. The role of social media in the arab uprisings pew. The arab spring of discontent einternational relations. Along with the decrease in production, the demographic boom was also responsible for increasing unemployment. Jan 29, 2018 six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. The arab spring and its unintended effects in syria. Pdf egyptian revolution, also known as arab spring or arab uprising, was a shock for international community because egypt has been. On a systemic level, the arab uprising will create a new political and economic reality in the middle east and transform the regional balance of power. In march, elsissi was reelected with 97 percent of the vote, although the turnout was low and he faced virtually no competition. The economics of the arab spring and its aftermath world bank. Arab spring, wave of prodemocracy protests and uprisings that took place in the middle east and north africa beginning in 2010, challenging some of the regions entrenched authoritarian regimes.
Causes, consequences, and perspectives foreword this paper is an extended summary of a panel discussion with rami khouri on the topic of the arab uprisings auses, onsequences, and perspectives. During the eighteenday uprising, none of the revolutionaries chanted slogans had religious connotations. The arab spring demonstrated that public opinion can powerfully affect the regions political life. The protests are about unemployment which is over 15 percent in the. Have students write an essay comparing how the arab spring revolution. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the new arab wars. Its uprising also became one of the most consequential. In the flood of newspaper articles, media documentaries, online blogs, youtube postings, and scholarly articles that followed the rebellions and worldwide protests in 20112012, there is however a remarkable feature of the protests that has remained mostly unrecognized, untheorized, and certainly not analyzed comparatively. Nahid afrose kabir 1 he arab spring was a civil uprising mainly of arab youths in tunisia and egypt which commenced in december 2010 and january 2011 respectively. What was meant to be an uprising for change turned into a bloody, brutal and endless civil war.
Protests against antishia discrimination followed in february and early march in qatif, hofuf, alawamiyah, and riyadh. Pdf the middle east and north africa mena have long been laden with tensions and instabilities. On a systemic level, the arab uprising will create a new political and economic reality in the middle. Egyptian revolution, also known as arab spring or arab uprising, was a shock for international community because egypt has been seen as one of the strongest military state in north africa region. Regardless of exploring the causes of the uprising, this paper will take into account the political implications of this unexpected upheaval, the arab spring, on the domestic, regional and international politics. Pdf the middle east and north africa mena have long been laden with. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
President barack obama declared that a great new chapter in history was emerging in the arab world. The hope and reality of the uprisings is a critically essential, informed and informative volume for students. The role of social media in the arab spring, a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests in the middle east and north africa between 2010 and 2012, remains a highly debated subject. The causes of the arab spring, or as some call it, arab awakening, were many and longgathering.
But their purpose, relative success, and outcome remain hotly disputed in arab countries, among foreign observers, and between world powers looking to cash in on the changing map of the middle east. The unfinished revolutions of the new middle east lynch, marc on. Reflections on the arab uprisings project on middle east. New media and conflict after the arab spring united states. Literature and the arab spring an uprising of words. The implications of the arab uprisings for oil and gas markets.
The role of social media in the arab uprisings pew research. A bumpy road ahead pdf by hassan hakimian, director of the london middle east institute and reader, economics department, soas underscores the underlying importance of the economic conditions facing the new republics, such as egypt and tunisia, which are emerging as a result of the arab spring. In 2011, as the arab uprisings spread across the middle east, jordan remained more stable than any of its neighbors. Analysis of the arab spring 3 blunders in state response, in particular using a heavyhanded approach and trying to crush opposition, had the reverse effect of galvanising more people to join the protests icg, 2011b and 2011d. In 2011 a wave of prodemocracy protests known as the arab spring spread across the arab world. An extraordinary wave of popular protest swept the arab world in 2011. Barely a year after the selfimmolation of a young fruit seller in tunisia, a vast wave of popular protest has convulsed the middle east. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in tunisia noueihed, 2011. This paper examines the significance of the recent arab uprisings and their implications for regional and global oil and gas markets. Khamis and vaughn, cyberactivitism in the egyptian. However, as was shown by the arab spring, one social group alone can bring a great amount of change and should therefore not be underestimated.
In december 2010, protests began against the autocratic government in the northern african country of tunisia. Yemen became one of the first countries to experience the protests. Uprisings occurred in states regardless of their levels of internet usage, with some states with high levels of internet usage such as bahrain, with 88% of its population online in 2011 experiencing. The term arab spring is an allusion to the revolutions of 1848, which are sometimes referred to as the springtime of nations, and the prague spring in 1968. The protests in saudi arabia were part of the arab spring that started with the 2011 tunisian revolution. Its causes and consequences abstract this paper attempts to examine the causes of the arab uprisings in middle eastern states. In egypt, protests and strikes began on january 25, 2011 national police day and lasted for 18 days, bringing. Social media and the arab spring sage publications. Instead, that spring has given way to a winter of economic stagnation and political violence that has plunged syria, libya and yemen into bloody civil war, has led to widespread unrest in egypt, iraq and bahrain, and threatens to destabilize arab governments from morocco to saudi arabia. Egypt marks seventh anniversary of arab spring uprising. In addition, the peculiarities of each country have created different trajectories and results, both for the protestors and the regimes.
Tunisians look at books for sale in a bookshop window that were previously banned under the former president zine elabidine ben ali on january 20, 2011 in tunis, tunisia. By early 2011 they had spread into what became known as the arab spring a wave of protests, uprisings, and unrest that spread across arabic. Between the islamic state and the nationstate the brookings project on u. Massive popular mobilization brought down longruling leaders in tunisia and egypt, helped spark bloody struggles in bahrain, libya, syria, and yemen, and fundamentally reshaped. While the uprising in tunisia led to some improvements in the country from a humanrights perspective, not all of the nations that witnessed such social and political. Moreover this paper tries to predict the consequences of these.
This thesis critically examines the concept of the arab spring in describing the recent uprisings. The first use of arab spring i can find was in foreign policy on jan. In the aftermath of the iraq war, it was used by various commentators and bloggers who anticipated a major arab movement towards democratization. Justice and human dignity were not priorities in most states.
A parsimonious explanation of recent contentious politics. Uprisings and anarchy in the middle east kindle edition by lynch, marc. Inequality, uprisings, and conflict in the arab world. Six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. The recent uprising in the middle east astonished the entire world when volcano of human patience erupted in the strategically most important region of the world the middle east. The gaddafi archives libya before the arab spring view gallery an exhibition of photographs, documents and artefacts from the human rights watch archive paints a portrait of libya in the four decades prior to the arab spring.
Another is the middle eastern context, which would locate the arab uprisings alongside the post2009 green movement in iran. The roots and causes of the 2011 arab uprisings kamal eldin osman salih abstract. The term arab spring, while controversial, has come to represent the events. These words and stories in turn affected the selfimage of arab societies. Mena oil and gas, and the way in which the effects of the arab uprisings are likely to manifest themselves in the long term. Which features of society can explain the largescale protests in the arab spring. Bouazizis death and the subsequent tunisian revolution sparked a wave of protests. The armed forces played a decisive role in many of the arab uprisings. The arab uprising began 18th december 2010 in tunisia and quickly spread.
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