Arab Spring

Arab Spring

On December 17, 2010, in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to his own body. Corrupt police officers confiscated his fruit cart because he did not pay the bribe they demanded. The commerce was the only sustenance of Bouazizi's family, just like thousands of other Tunisians, who lived in absolute poverty.

Bouazizi's sacrifice was accompanied by a series of protests with broad social support that quickly spread throughout Tunisia and many other Arab countries: Egypt, Libya, Syria, Algeria, Morocco, and Yemen. These protests became known as the Arab Spring.

The greats inequalities, corrupt and authoritarian governments, unemployment- which was reaching alarming levels, especially among the youngest -, and lack of freedom caused a massive wave of protests in Arab countries. The success of the actions coordinated by thousands of citizens had a lot to do with the new communication technologies and social networks.

The protesters, mainly youngers, were fighting for political, social, and economic change. In some countries, such as Tunisia and Egypt, these protests succeeded in overthrowing the government; in others, such as Libya and Syria, they led to civil wars. Syria, in particular, is facing one of the cruelest conflicts of the beginning of the century.

Interpretations about the motivations of the Arab Spring are multiple. Some analysts attribute the start of the demonstrations to the consequences of the economic crisis. Others qualify the "Spring" as a product of the maturity of a society tired of the poor distribution of national wealth and anxious for greater participation in political decisions. Some accuse the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the European intelligence services of interfering in the process and creating enough cover to weaken, politically, the countries' leaders.

In Tunisia, the protests were backed by the army, which made it possible to overthrow the government of Ben Ali, who had achieved the presidency in 1987 after a coup d'état.

Ruled with an iron fist since 1981 by Hosni Mubarak, Egypt was another scene of the Arab Spring. Although the reality of this country was very different from Tunisia, the demonstrations gained momentum after the fall of Ben Ali on January 14, 2011. The protests in Egypt were motivated by the deteriorating social situation and the need for government measures to contain the impact of the crisis and rising food prices on the population.

In early 2011, on January 28, the Egyptian government tried to cut off access to the Internet to prevent protesters from organizing. The next day, thousands of people gathered in the streets of Cairo and other cities. After these events, Mubarak called on the protesters to return to their homes and made the proposal to start a national reconciliation process, proposing substantial changes in the government payroll, although without touching on his tenure as president of the nation.

Mubarak's proposals did not weaken the movement. With that, protest leaders announced a day of popular uprisings, whose resignation of Hosni Mubarak as president became the central demand. Thus, on February 11, 2011, after several attempts to remain in power, Mubarak resigned. Moments after the announcement, thousands of people took to the streets all over Egypt to celebrate the victory that marked the end of Hosni Mubarak's rule as president and the hope of building a democratic scenario.

Libya was the center of one of the bloodiest episodes of the Arab Spring. The country, which has been ruled since 1969 by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, in January 2011 suffered a series of anti-government demonstrations in the city of Bengasi. The protesters demanded better living conditions for the inhabitants of that city and blamed Gaddafi and several members of his circle for illicit enrichment.

This started violent clashes between the demonstrators, government supporters, and the police. Opponents of the regime began to control several areas, plunging the country into civil war.  In late August 2011, the troops of the National Transitional Council (NTC), entered Tripoli, establishing a transitional government. Gaddafi, meanwhile, fled the city. 

Afterward, they would begin a fight for peace, with which they tried to eliminate the supporters of the former regime from the country and try to find the former Libyan leader. This goal was achieved on October 20 of the same year, when Gaddafi was trying to escape the CNT and NATO siege in a convoy.

After his capture, Gadhafi was killed in a brutal violation of human rights. Videos of his violent capture were posted on the Internet, causing worldwide outrage.

In the case of Syria, dozens of people protested in Daraa, seeking freedom, political reform, and corruption.  The acts were initially peaceful and controlled by the Syrian police without violent incidents. The march against the government was launched on the Internet and supported by thousands of people advocating a national revolution against President Bashar Al-Assad. 

Facing the situation, Al-Assad announced economic reforms, amnesty for political prisoners, and more access to the Internet. The unstable situation continued throughout 2011, attracting international attention.

The initially peaceful uprisings gained bigger proportions and led to a civil war. The different internal and external interests were a catastrophe for Syria, triggering the largest refugee crisis since the end of World War II.

The impacts of the Arab Spring on the world

In addition to the four countries mentioned, uprisings also broke out in Yemen, Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, and Iraq, w8324Eith a series of conflicts and demands for change.

Many of the world's major oil producers are countries in this region. Because of that, the unrest has caused the price of oil, and consequently of food, to rise.

The outcome of the Arab Spring wasn't what was expected. In Egypt, the transformations have not been profound, and serious social problems persist. Libya is currently facing serious economic difficulties as well as a divided government. Syria, Yemen, and Iraq have kept their governments, but still suffer constant attacks from fundamentalist groups in their territories. What was intended to show the world as the birth of a new political culture and a change model soon turned out to be a crisis of enormous proportions.