Roots and causes of the arab uprisings there is a consensu s among politica l analysts regardin g the cocktai l of major factors that, when combined, created the socia l explosio n known as the 2011 arab uprisings. The gcc in the mediterranean in light of the arab spring mediterranean paper series december 2012 silvia colombo,1 kristian coates ulrichsen,2 shafeeq ghabra,3 shadi hamid,4 and eman ragab5 1. In this landmark book, hamid dabashi argues that the revolutionary uprisings that have engulfed multiple countries and political climes from morocco to iran and from syria to yemen, are driven by a delayed defiance a point of rebellion against domestic tyranny and globalized. Beginning in tunisia popular movements swept regimes from power in tunisia, egypt, and libya and threatened to overthrow ruling elites across the region. 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. This seems to be one of the international factors that made the arab spring possible. The delay in this prophecy for two decades motivates us to question whether the arab spring is part of huntingtons third wave of democratization or a new fourth wave of democratization, or even a false start to democracy, as described by larry diamond. The arab spring laid doors open for yet more realism and pragmatism to dominate world politics. Qaddafi was a very strongheaded dictator and somehow he managed to bring everyone against him during the arab spring of libya. This product includes 56 compelling slides including maps, charts, editorial cartoons, and links to short videos. This article was first crossposted on gr in october 2015. Arab spring as a background of civil war in syria in. Real gdp growth 2010, 2015 fffi fffi6% fffi4% fffi2% fffi.
This collection reminds us of the centrality of the mena region in the struggle between interests and alliances. United states and gulf state interests in the postarab spring. Read, download and publish arab spring magazines, ebooks. In the uae and oman, however, searches for facebook grew steadily and there were no particular changes during the arab spring. Read, download and publish arab spring magazines, ebooks for free at. In this landmark book, hamid dabashi argues that the revolutionary uprisings that have engulfed multiple countries and political climes from morocco to iran and from syria to yemen, were driven by a delayed defiance a point of rebellion against domestic tyranny and. They help divided societies to air and hopefully resolve their differences. Islamism, the arab spring, and the failure of americas donothing policy in the middle east it was nice to think the regions uprisings werent about the united states, or didnt have to be. Noted authorities writing specifically for this volume contribute chapters focusing on. Between the islamic state and the nationstate the brookings project on u. It is fair to say that the west has not stopped intervening in arab affairs since the fall of the ottoman empire and prior, of course. Its origins, evolution and consequences four years on. Norris 2012 reminds us that social networking was important long before the. The arab spring began in tunisia in december 2010, therefore learning about tunisia is an appropriate place to start digesting this topic.
Hundreds of thousands of tunisians took to the streets calling for an end to authoritarian rule. However and perhaps unfortunately the arab spring, since its inception, is increasingly being debated within the context of how the united states can help, shape or expedite it and how u. The gulf arab countries foreign and security policies postarab. It should also engage muslim religious groups and political parties if they reject violence and unequivocally support democratic principles. National security internet archive nsia additional collections.
Why did the united states actively support the rebels in libya but not the protestors in syria or bahrain. Change and resistance in the middle east examines these revolutions and their aftermath. This booklet examines two incidents of the arab spring. The arab spring commenced on december 18, 2010 and has taken place in egypt, tunisia, bahrain, syria, yemen, algeria, kuwait, oman, morocco, saudi arabia and sudan. They also wanted more democracy, and end to corruption, and economic opportunity. After female activists played a prominent role in actions leading to the recent. The international politics of the arab spring popular. Lynch outlines the entirety of the arab spring and how the uprisings have manifested themselves in each country. The arab spring essay charles 5 defines the arab spring as the series of revolutions characterized by protests and demonstrations that are currently taking place in the arab world.
Is there solid evidence of us involvement in the arab spring. To find out whether the arab spring caused a significant change in the usage of social media, we conducted a regression discontinuity analysis with two independent variables. Since the end of 2010, the arab spring and subsequent political changes in the. The attention on escalation of tensions between bashar alassads government and opposition as a source of civil war in syria was paid. The influence of displeasure explosion against governments in tunisia, libya and egypt, known as arab spring, on the situation in syria was described. The 20102011 arab spring caused upheaval in north africas. Arab spring research guide and notes sheet introduction.
A reading list five years ago the middle east and north africa was electrified by unprecedented popular protests that heralded the start of the arab spring. Thearabspringandthefutureofusinterestsandcooperativesecurityinthearabworld2011 identifierark ark. This way the us economic and strategic security interests have contributed to human insecurity in the region. The arab spring unexpectedly developed in late 2010 with peaceful protests in a number of arab countries against longstanding, entrenched regimes, and rapid political change across the region ensued. It concerns the us government role in instigating, funding and coordinating the arab spring revolutions. Six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. The arab spring of oman and the arab spring of libya. The arab spring as a challenge to political science springerlink. Qatari officials can thus react to the arab spring with expressions of declaratory and material support for opposition movements that are unlikely to rebound domestically. 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 tension between these two fundamentally distinct policy orientations has become even more pronounced as the united states tries to respond to the arab spring uprisings.
While conceding that the arab world generally suffers from a dearth of religious freedom, it argues that religious freedom is both achievable and necessary for regional peace and stability. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in tunisia noueihed, 2011. The arab spring andthefutureof us interestsandcooperativesecurityinthe arab world2011 identifierark ark. This pioneering explanation of the arab spring will define a new era of thinking about the middle east. The arab spring and the subsequent wars in the region temporarily weakened ruling regimes egypt or led to the collapse of regional powers syria, libya, while the rise of daesh or the socalled islamic state of iraq and syria isis put the.
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. Barack obama throws full us support behind middle east. This article examines the critically important but often neglected topic of religious freedom in the middle east and north africa in the context of the arab spring. Instead, a new arab political identity with an antidespotic, pluralis t and democracyseekin g approach is dawning. The first exact apply of the phrase arab spring to represent the current arab uprisingswas initiated by us political academic. Arab spring to advance their radical agenda, the united states should seek allies in arab governments, secular groups, tribal leaders, and other groups threatened by islamist totalitarians. A marshall plan is needed, declared the egyptian labour minister hassan alboraei at a gathering of the world economic forum in jordan in october 2011, outlining the economic challenges his country faced in the aftermath of the arab spring.
Are you asking whether the us government may have intentionally instigated unrest in a covert manner. Enquete sur le role des etatsunis dans les revoltes arabes investigation into the us role in the arab uprisings is an update of ahmed bensaadas 2011 book larabesque americaine. Kingdom, and the united states, of pretense in the way and manner in. As the uncertainty of the arab spring continues, the debate on the future of the movement and the u. The arab spring is still unfolding, as is the direction of change. As an adviser to president obama, lynch is able to give the reader perspective and insight into the presidents thought process and how the united states relationship with the middle east will evolve over time. This pioneering elucidation of the arab spring will define a new era of thinking about the middle east. The purpose of this article is to examine the causes, features, and transition processes of. The critical descriptions, explanations, and analyses of the arab spring rank. Irans role in the arab spring of libya, by iakovos.
The role of information communication technologies in the. The dynamics of political engineering this article purports to examine the role of the. Ruth hanau santini writes on womens rights in tunisia, egypt and libya in the wake of the arab awakening. Implications for us policy and interests democracies make for stronger and stabler partners. Religious freedom, the arab spring, and us middle east. The common slogan of the protesters throughout arab spring was the people want to bring down the regime aissa, 2012. With the exception of the last interest, the us has relaxed its support for repression of the abovementioned groups. A nascent body of published works on the nexus of israeli security and the arab spring 1 has come to delineate two diametrically opposed viewpoints.
But the upheavals of the past year have left the region in flux, and the u. Marxist circles and parties set up in the arab world with moscows help had little influence, and local liberation movements did not depend on the bolsheviks. Unfortunately, the united states does not have the luxury of waiting to make sense of what occurred. 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. The arab spring was a series of antigovernment protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the middle east in early 2011. The economic and financial impacts of the arab awakening raed h charafeddine sep 2011. Arab spring used their powers vehemently to crush the demonstrators and consequently the peaceful protesters also became violent.
Although the shock of the initial events of the arab. Arab spring may point to a phenomenon of new mass forms of sociopolitical protest facilitated by social media networks, particularly in regard to their organizational and communication aspects, it should also produce some major reservations about the applicability of any direct lessons to other regional and sociopolitical contexts. Barack obama has sought to realign american policy on the middle east, pledging to shift from decades of support for autocratic regimes to backing for. The arab spring that began in 2011 has ushered in an unprecedented political transformation that has devolved in varying degrees into a chaotic islamist winter in.
1094 1139 1495 646 115 57 461 1434 391 1401 635 254 578 847 208 477 501 365 893 716 1226 535 934 972 1282 88 176 533 1231 1063 235 1113 708 575 855 960 78 603