The Arab Spring

Have you ever been to the Middle East? Well, if you haven't, you sure are missing out on a lot. There is one thing for sure, you are missing out on those Arab Springs. Yes, I said it, Arab Springs, which are getting into a big issue. Arab Springs is a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle East in early 2011. The people in the Middle East are uprising their rulers’ choices of their decisions and hoping to have a democracy. There were many countries, which overthrew their government, like Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya. There are still many countries, which is still ongoing to overthrow their government like Syria and Bahrain. During the process with the conflict in the Middle East, there is a lot of questions to answer, the causes, succesful uprising and ongoing uprisings, and how it affects the United States.

In the Middle East, each country has it’s own form of government. These forms of governments have been consistently changing throughout time. Throughout all the revolutions and overthrows, the national identity of the Middle East has slowly changed, some parts more than others. Over many years, overthrows in countries such as Egypt and Libya have led to a more democratic government. However, many other countries such as Iran and Iraq have remained more oppressive. The Middle East is still changing to this day. For example, Egypt recently overthrew their president Hosni Mubarak. There are also many protests currently going on in Libya.

The Arab Spring was a series of uprisings in the Middle East beginning in the year 2011. The results of these revolutions are still being felt in places present day such as Syria. The wave of uprisings began in Tunisia and slowly spread throughout the regions, with notable long lasting campaigns involved in countries such as Syria, Libya and Egypt. The hope of political scientists at the time was that the Middle East has had enough of tyranny and oppression and was finally taking control to overthrow the aggressors and institute democratic change. This was simply not the case, as Tunisia was the only success story and the rest of the nations involved had their uprising crushed, or the country went into a period of a prolonged civil war. There

Democracy: A political system in which citizens enjoy a number of basic civil and political rights, and in which their most important political leaders are elected in free and fair elections and accountable under a rule of law (26). In the studies we have undertaken, comparing and exploring various countries and systems politically, economically, and psychologically throughout the quarter, this outcry of democracy has prevailed as a main theme. Successful countries such as the United States and Great Britain are based upon such democratic ideals. It is no wonder that countries have striven more recently toward this goal of democratization. Both the Russian and Mexican revolutions prove that democracy is an attainable goal in the next

The term “Arab Spring” has emerged in academic literature as well as in the general media from about early 2011. It refers to the “awakening” of some Arab nations and the movements to replace authoritarian regimes with democratic ones. The theme of “spring” and “awakening” seems to have been borrowed from the 1989 reform movements in the former Eastern-block nations, such as in the former German Democratic Republic or Hungary. However, this comparison has been criticised by some analysts since both the circumstances which have led to these movements as well as the outcome of these reform efforts seem to differ quite a lot. Yet, the Arab Spring term seems to be still widely used and even found an extension in the creation of the term Arab Winter which refers to events that happened in 2012 in some Arab countries during which these reform movements seemed to have “cooled-off” and particular nations, such as Egypt, attempted to go back to the status-quo of the pre-2011 era.

1. The country of Tunisia sits atop the northernmost point in Africa, surrounded by Algeria to the west, Libya to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea and Europe to the north. It has occupied this territory since its foundation under the Ottoman empire.1 Since then its rulership has transitioned from regime to regime; each with a history of civil war and corruption.2 The most recent of these ended in revolution in 2011, when Tunisia overthrew its dictator, and established a new constitution and elected government.3 Today it is the only democracy in the Arab world.4 This outcome was internationally championed as a success story, evident by the 2015 Nobel peace prize awarded to the union leaders, lawyers, and human rights activists who facilitated the dialogue between politicians and the workforce for the construction of a new democratic system.5 However, the same economic problems of the previous regime still remain and threaten the political stability that many of Tunisia’s allies, including the United States of America (U.S.), hope to see.6 This paper explores Tunisia through the cultural domains of Politics and Social Relations, Economy and Resources, and finally the country’s relation to U.S. interests.

Despite the democratization movements in Latin America and Eastern Europe in 1980s and 90s, Middle Eastern authoritarian regimes proved to be resilient. Despite the recent Arab Spring protests, most Middle Eastern nations live under authoritarian regimes. How do these authoritarian regimes survive for so long? What are the factors that contribute to their longevity?

Robert Brym and Robert Andersen co-authored this journal article, which documents their findings from a study on the Arab Spring’s impact on Tunisian attitudes and priorities. Andersen first earned his BA in Political Science and Sociology, from King's University in 1992, directly followed by a Master's and Ph.D. graduate degrees in sociology from Western and McMaster Universities. Throughout his education and employment, he has contributed to and published many books and journal articles related to his research in political economics, statistics, and social science. He is an experienced academic who began teaching as an assistant professor in 1998 at Brock University, before going on to chair the Sociology Department at the University of Toronto

Throughout history many societies have, and will likely continue to have revolutions as we as humans strive towards a utopian society. Each and every one of these revolution follows some pattern, a pattern that most often includes a great number of civilian casualties. But what is it that pushes such revolutions forward? Why have people risked and given their lives fighting against their own leadership? Looking at both the French Revolution and the Arab Spring can help uncover the answer to these questions, as for people to willingly risk their lives, they must have been living in destitute situations. Both of these societies did indeed have many social and economic problems, as well as a poor quality of life, specifically for the bottom class, or in the case of the French Revolution, the Third Estate. It is because of these issues that the people stood up to their leaders and demanded a better life, overtaking the government in the process.

A revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both violent and non-violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab World that began on 18 December 2010, later gained the heading “The Arab spring”. The Arab spring began by a twenty six year old boy named Mohammed Bouazizi was getting ready to sell fruits and vegetables in a rural town of Sidi Bouzid Tunisia. Bouazizi was the primary supporter for his widowed mother and six of his siblings. The entire incident originated when the police officer asked bouazizi to hand over his wooden cart, he refused the police women allegedly slapped him after being publicly humiliated bouazizi marched in front of a government building and set himself on fire. The Jasmine revolution in Tunisia, the shock wave swept across the country which threatened the stability of this oil-rich region with repercussion felt internationally. After the world witnessed what happened in Tunisia, it caused a spilled over into most of the Arab countries. Such as Egypt, Libya Syria and Yemen. Aim of this paper is to show that the current situation corollary of decades of failed policies, exacerbated by an unsolicited foreign intervention. The extensive consequences, I will argue, require cautious attention and careful management from international communities as well as the Arab human rights committee. This paper seeks to explore the profound causes that prompted the so called “Arab awakening” and the covert hidden agenda behind the sudden pro democratic

In late 2010, a tidal wave of uprisings and protests in various parts of the Arab world emerged. It began with the Tunisian revolution when the martyr Mahmoud Bouazizi set fire to himself as a result of the deteriorating economic and social. This led to protests and demonstrations that ended with the fall of the ruling regime. In Tunisia which sparked the beginning of revolutions in many Arab countries, this is known as an Arab Spring. The question remains what are the real reasons that led to the Arab Spring and its effects? the causes of the Arabic spring May be varied, depending on the places, however the reasons can be a corruption in economic policies and demand social justice as the key motives and protests in the Arab world. This essay will discuss the most important reasons, and the effects of what is known as the Arab Spring.

In late 2010, a Tunisian named Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest against the poor economic situation in which he was living (CNN, 2011). Other Tunisians soon took the opportunity to resist their government and possible overthrow the leadership of Ben Ali. They took it as their responsibility to fight for the common good. Simple demonstration against the Tunisian government soon went ahead to an extent that Ben Ali had to leave the country. The events that followed the departures of the Tunisian president were the least expected. The revolts in Tunisia spurred citizens of other Arab nations to revolt against their governments. By the end of the years 2011, the Arab spring had claimed the presidency of three long serving presidents and

Although the people’s voice is being heard and changes are being made, blood flows down the streets as people are being killed violently everyday. Many people believe it would have been more beneficial if the Middle East had completely avoid the Arab Spring or at least have gone a more passive road. Through the history of the region, leaders of Arab countries have anchored their position to later become rich and

After Two months of the attack that was grasped by a Tunisian operative who was unemployed because of the treatment of the state, countless and large demonstrations have range so fast amid the working class as well as the youth in the finished Middle East. The movement commenced to range so fast from one state to one more that it was shouted the Arabic Spring as it range to Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya. Every single administration in every single state was frightened that the waves of anger should menace his rule. Countless strategies have been set to protect the administrations in countless countries. The

The Arab Spring has been a life changing phenomena, not only for the people who are attempting to overthrow their governments but for political scientists everywhere. The events originating in the North African country of Tunisia have led to the snowballing of several other Middle Eastern, predominantly Muslim, nation states. The figurative breaking point might have finally been reached as the oppressed peoples of the Middle East have risen up to overthrow long-standing dictatorial governments in hopes of revolutionary change; change that is subject to the will of the people.