Arab Spring Essay

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Since December 2010, demonstrations and protests spread across countries in North Africa and the Middle East. The protests started in Tunisia, following Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation in protest of ill-treatment and police corruption (Salih 2013:184), and quickly spread throughout the Arab world. These pro-democracy movements, collectively called the Arab Spring, rose up against the dictatorial regimes and corrupt leaders that had ruled for decades in some cases. In the major sites of the popular uprisings, political conditions remain unsettled or violent (Dariwsheh, 2014). Despite similarities in their original opposition to authoritarian rule, the outcomes differed from country to country. In Tunisia and Egypt, processes of transition
The international community intervened in Libya and Syria. The latter changed the dynamics of the international politics. The escalation of tensions between Turkey and Russia, and the disagreement among the European Union over the issue of Syrian refugees are all tied to the onset of the Arab Spring. Following the uprising several countries in the region like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Jordan increased cooperating with each other in preventing protests, which is another sign of a change in the regional relations among states. The Arab Spring caused a major turmoil and change, but to a very different degree depending on the country. Whereas Gaddafi was overthrown, Yemen’s president resigned, and Bashar-Al Assad is still in
Thus, the Arab Spring is a remarkable case of how civil protests and demands for political reforms can quickly spread from one country to a whole region. The phenomenon is a highly relevant case for democratization or democratic transition and a catalyst of change in the dynamics of the international relations. A study of the internal and external variables causing the divergent outcomes of the Arab Spring presents a vital opportunity for augmentation of scholarship on transition and an empirical avenue to test, modify, and perhaps falsify existing theories in comparative politics and international

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