The middle east, democratization, and the arab spring. In light of the arab spring, how should students of democratic transition rethink the relation between religion and democracy. In the field of the graduation thesis assigned in some faculties of humanities, there has become increasingly common the choice, by the candidates, of the research centered on the socalled arab uprisings and the whole series of social and political upheavals that have been attributed by the global media the definition of the arab spring. Causes of the arab spring causes of the arab spring may be described as following. After the hope of the arab spring, the chill of an arab. Specifically, we examine the cases of tunisia, egypt, and bahrain and consider how economic and demographic changes. Rethinking western policies in light of the arab uprisings iai. The bourgeoisdemocratic revolutions known as the arab spring have ruthlessly exposed the methodological and analytical deficiencies of many marxists. Arab spring are addressed in regional and global terms. Democratization theory and the arab spring journal of democracy. The ultimate objective of this research is to go beyond theorizing the arab spring to advance a typological theory on popular revolution. Bunker regimes arab monarchies have been the least affected by the arab spring, echoing eva bellins suggestion that the truisms of the. Flooding the streets of cairo, tunis and other capital cities, arabs young and old demanded change from their governments with unprecedented fervor.
The discussion focused on the august 2011 saban center analysis paper, the next war, authored by saab and nicholas blanford, and addressed the way in which the arab spring is affecting the. The events of the arab spring, the most prominent large scale, widespread protests since the collapse of the soviet union, provide an ideal situation in which to test this theory. The arab spring was a series of prodemocracy uprisings that enveloped several largely muslim countries, including tunisia, morocco, syria, libya, egypt and. Arab spring, while the demands of protestors and revolutionaries were more mundane. The eu and the southern neighbors in the wake of the arab spring the democracysecurity dilemma assem dandashly political science departmentmaastricht university assem. Egyptian military is not only in charge of the defence of the country but also. When bouazizi died from his burns less than three weeks later, massive protests erupted throughout tunisia. Democratization in the arab world is an excellent book that fills a need for concise profiles of democratic transitions and the lessons that can be drawn from them. 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 role social of media and modern technology in arabs spring aftab a. An attempt to analyze the arab spring august 31, 2012. Reasons for arab spring based on views in developing. Syria is subject to sunnialawite conflict but the arab spring has aggravated the crisis. The current research aims at studying the concepts of the arab spring. Testing the theory of moralityascooperation in 60 societies. Marxist idealism and the arab spring louis proyect.
The role of human development in the transition to democracy after the arab. Of the four major arab spring protests analyzedtunisia, egypt, libya, and. The waves of the arab spring in tunisia, egypt, libya, yemen and syria, and any other country that may follow, is considered a unique phenomenon worth studying in view of the pre and post revolution events and effects on all sectors of the national economy, as well as their interlocking effects on the global economy. It appeared as though one rotten arab dictatorship after another might fall during the socalled arab spring. The southern and northern ramifications of the processes of democratisation in the arab countries in the last decades, the area of political science devoted to the study of processes of democratisation has been without any doubt one of the most prolific among those focused on.
It both challenged the political status quo in the middle east and attempted to write a new chapter in the history of the region. Apr 16, 2014 we discuss how the arab spring is a reflection of the resiliency of the human rights regime. Real gdp growth 2010, 2015 fffi fffi6% fffi4% fffi2% fffi 0% ff 2% ff 4% ff algeria libya morocco tunisia 2010 2015. It breaks new ground in very deliberately, thoughtfully, and parsimoniously applying the lessons of theory and experience to the transition processes underway in the arab world. In the aftermath of the arab spring, democracy in the arab world seems farther away today than at any point in the last 25 years. Real gdp growth 2010, 2015 fffi fffi6% fffi4% fffi2% fffi 0% ff 2% ff 4% ff algeria libya morocco tunisia 2010 2015 source. Evidencebased, detailed, rigorous, and critical evaluation of the social, political, and human contradictions driving these revolutions is rare rarer still is any sense of what is to be done to aid these struggles while lazy thinking. The meme of the arab spring is characterised by bottomup change, or the lack thereof, and its effects are still unfurling today. The impact of the arab spring on the tunisian economy by samer matta, simon appleton and michael bleaney outline 1.
In the arab world in late 2010, starting in tunisia and flowering in egypt, a movement of people depressed by their governments, corrupt leaders and a lack of jobs that at once felt safe to take to the streets. A view from the scorching summer, following the arab spring. Esposito, john voll, and tamara sonn examine the state of democracy in muslimmajority societies today. This has never been exemplified more perfectly than by the wave of arab spring revolts that swept the middle east last year. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. But the western world, and its leader, president obama, seem oblivious to the direction into which the arab spring is moving. For instance, in turkey although peripheral to the arab spring the new constitution seeks to drastically curb the powers of the army which has intervened in politics since 1960 and has staged four coups. It all started when a 26 year old fruit seller set himself on fire in front of a government building as a protest towards his humiliation of selling fruits without a permit. Arab regimes had been sitting on a demographic time bomb for decades. Khan college of business administration king saud university, saudi arabia email. The arab spring impacts on the jordanian hotels sector. The arab spring was a revolutionary movement that started in tunisia that inspired a number of countries from north africa to the middle east in 2010.
It follows that the arab spring represents marxs chaotic whole, the realconcrete in this investigation into the arab spring. The general trend is prorussian and very critical of the arab spring. Fall of the arab spring from revolution to destruction. The events of the arab spring were an inevitable surprise. Democratization theory and the arab spring request pdf. Developing the methods of estimation and forecasting the. Arab spring graffiti despite not being a coherent art movement, some of the most immediate, insightful and human art seen for some time has been produced during the arab spring in 2011 when protesters armed with spray cans articulated their interpretations of the uprising on the walls around them. An overview of arab countries armed forces, including egyptian and tunisian armies relationship with their governments, is provided. Estimating the economic impact of the arab spring 6. Examining the arab springs uncertain future season 2014. The revolutionary process in the middle east and north africa mena has suffered through a period of defeats and setbacks since the heady days of 2011.
The article discusses the causes of the 2011 arab spring uprisings, including an examination of the political history of arab countries from the 1950s through the early 2010s. An assessment of current state and forecast of social instability in the arab world in the context of the arab spring processes is a very important and relevant task, but it is also very challenging. Marxism, the arab spring, and islamic fundamentalism. Not only do the big powers never get tired of prettifying client states to keep the oil flowing, the most cynical accounts will say that there is indeed a concerted attempt at setting up regimes that. The arab spring was a series of prodemocracy uprisings that enveloped several largely muslim countries, including tunisia, morocco, syria, libya, egypt and shows this day in. Political and economic development in most arab states simply could not keep up with the staggering. Major political developments in tunisia since the arab spring 3. Collective violence, which argues that unarmed collective violence mostly the burning of police stations in egypts governorates was crucial for assuring the victory of protesters over. The arab spring and israeli security concerns in middle east monitor, february 14th.
We will abstract for the uprisings in tunisia and egypt. The arab spring and the democratic domino theory the democratic domino theory you have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. Abdelaziz bouteflikas abdication in april 2019 after a twodecade rule over algeria under similar. Although he now distances himself from the discredited arab spring, president obama was vocal in giving its narrative credence and supporting it from the onset. The economist offers authoritative insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them.
New media and conflict after the arab spring the web site cannot. Ofer kenig, of idis political reform project, cautiously examines whether the events of the arab spring indicate the rise of substantial democracy in the arab world or whether they merely exchanged one type of authoritarian regime for anothera nonliberal islamic regime. These movements was influenced by the tunisian revolution which started as a result of mohammed abuazize himself, burning. The decadeslong political winter in the arab world seemed to be thawing early this year as mass protests toppled tunisian president zine elabidine ben ali in january and egyptian president hosni mubarak in february. Understanding of arab spring with chaos theory uprising. Press, 1999 and jillian schwedler, faith in moderation. The arab spring democratization failure by rebecca. If it is to ever arrive, it will likely be through a more evolutionary and elitedriven process. Egyptian militants are still trying to keep the flame of the revolution alive and burning.
Understanding of arab spring with chaos theory uprising or. Mar 01, 2012 the arab spring and the democratic domino theory the democratic domino theory you have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. The arab spring began when a young tunisian man set himself on fire to protest government corruption and poor economic conditions. The reasons and economic and political consequences of arab spring 43 egypt, where arab spring lasted longer, is one of the largest countries in africa with its advantages such as its location, tourism revenues and logistics moaddel, 2012. This concept is used as an indication to a wide range of uprisings in the middle east and north africa mena region during the past two years. While some have argued that recent work on the 2011 arab spring constitutes a new, misguided fifth generation of theory, i show this claim to be misplaced, demonstrating the remarkable. The armed forces played a decisive role in many of the arab uprisings, particularly the early ones. Political and economic development in most arab states simply could not keep up with the staggering increase in the population, as the ruling.
Arab spring used their powers vehemently to crush the demonstrators and consequently the peaceful protesters also became violent. Funds owned by states united arab emirates, kuwait, qatar. Mar 22, 2012 the fate of iraqi refugees in syria is one of the three hot topics for the next year that will be considered in a second commentary on migration, displacement, and the arab spring. The arab spring and the democratic domino theory the. Interest in democratization is due in part to the association between democracy and many important positive outcomes, including respect for human rights, economic prosperity, and security. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in tunisia noueihed, 2011.
Unemployment rates 2010, 2015 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% algeria libya morocco tunisia 2010 2015 source. In egypt, after the 2011 revolution and the 2012 elections, it became evident that the newly born egyptian democracy will have to overcome a hostile environment full of skepticism, coupled with huge external challenges, such as keeping intact the peace treaty with israel, the distribution of hydraulic resources agreement with the countries of. Washington should recognize that change is coming and support it, especially in key. The reasons and economic and political consequences of. Respective difficulties are related to the variety of factors affecting social instability, to individual peculiarities of historical, cultural, socioeconomic and political processes in the region. Arab spring is a political concept that spread widely in the media and academic art publications. This book attempts to correctly identify why it all happened, and, why it all failed. Suggested citation beck, martin and huser, simone, political change in the middle east. The wests response to the arab spring would make a perfect case study for those.
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. Understanding attitudes and responses to the new middle east by benedetta berti from the outset, the arab spring has taken the world by storm. Contentious politics and the arab spring, social forces, volume 96, issue 3, march 2018, page e3. Except for syria, nearly each country affected by the arab spring is steadily moving towards some sort of stability. Why did the arab spring revolutions fail to achieve liberal democracy. Arab spring, middle east, rent theory, revolution theory, transition theory, democratization, authoritarianism, political and economic liberalization suggested citation. Jul 18, 2011 to understand why the arab spring has largely passed by the united arab emirates, take a moment to listen to naser al hammadi. Democratization, the process through which a political regime becomes democratic. Oppose the current title describes the events perfectly, arab. Similarly, an egyptian court is known to have curtailed the militarys power to arrest civilians. With the help of chaos theory, which has lately but very usefully revealed itself in social studies, phenomena of arab spring is observed for discovering whether it is a new beginning for middle eastern countries with consecutive and predictable outcomes, or is a path to a much more devastating arab winter just knocking the door. The arab spring the term arab spring was the name of the recent arab revolution that represent huge unarmed protest movements started form all arab countries in the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 being. This dissertation employs a qualitative case study approach to investigate the 20102012 arab spring. The common slogan of the protesters throughout arab spring was the people want to bring down the regime aissa, 2012.
Oct 16, 20 the arab spring holds promise as long as the chosen path is one of selfdetermination. Pressure from the united states certainly had an impact on the increase of democratization in the middle east during this period, however, the united states role in the arab spring also helps to illustrate how arab authoritarian regimes use the strategic role they play in western. Request pdf democratization theory and the arab spring more than twentyfive years have passed since the publication of transitions from authoritarian rule. The eu and the southern neighbors in the wake of the arab. The bloodiest upshot of the arab spring has been the incessant war in syria. The 2011 arab spring seems to offer new evidence of a domino theory one event spurring another event. The arab spring in comparative revolutionary analysis. It both challenged the political status quo in the middle east and attempted to write a. For the rest, typing arab spring or arab uprisings on the site of a wellstocked online bookstore e.
Following the american treatment of mubarak, and the almost absent reaction to assad, all friends of the west in the arab world, headed by the saudi leaders, are now maneuvering in order to distance themselves away. Libyan youth, inspired by the toppling of two longtime dictators in neighbouring tunisia and egypt in january and february, started peaceful protests to pressure muammar gaddafi to leave. In islam and democracy after the arab spring, john l. The economics of the arab spring and its aftermath world bank. Chapter 3 understanding of arab spring with chaos theory. Arab spring economist world news, politics, economics.
The routledge handbook of the arab spring seeks to provide a departure point for ongoing discussion of a fluid phenomenon on a plethora of topics, including. We discuss how the arab spring is a reflection of the resiliency of the human rights regime. Guide to writing a dissertation on the arab spring il. Parks on november 45, 2011, the asan institute for policy studies held the first asan middle east conference, a biennial gathering of the worlds foremost experts on the middle east and north africa mena region. The agony of the arab spring of the five countries where citizens rose up in 2011, only tunisia is relatively stable and free. The arab spring was a series of antigovernment protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the middle east in early 2011.
What does the arab spring imply for democratization theory. This argument is tested using data from the arab spring, the protests which started in tunisia in december 2010 and soon spread through north africa and the middle east. Recently, omar albashir, sudans head of state abdicated in view of the protests by his increasingly discontented citizens in what political analysts are labeling as the arab spring 2. Specifically, we examine the cases of tunisia, egypt, and bahrain and consider how economic and demographic changes created space for human rights. The landscape of the middle east has changed dramatically since 2011, as have the political arena and the discourse around democracy. Social nets may have moved it along a bit, but it did not happen because of them, that would be like saying that the american revolution happened. In order to accomplish this, we explore the extent to which the arab spring represents norm diffusion among middle east and north africa mena states. In truth, as expounded in fall of the arab spring, egypts 2011 upheaval is a manifestation of the same imperialist policy that destroyed libya.