To understand The Middle East unrest and crisis one should first know what was the Arab Spring of 2011 and the events of The Arab Spring. The Arab Spring has played a major role in problems that I talked about in my previous articles such as: Statelessness, Refugee Crisis, IDPs, and some of my upcoming posts, have their seeds sown during the unrest of 2011. This movement totally shaped the Middle East in its own way, good or bad read the article to know more.
What was Arab spring?
Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across the Arab world. These protests began in Tunisia and then spread to other countries such as Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain. It ultimately resulted in regime changes in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen. Many other countries were also enveloped by the revolts of Arab spring. The political and social impact of these revolts remain significant even today. The leadership changed and a power vacuum was created across the Arab world. It resulted in a continuous battle between a consolidation of power by the religious elites and the growing support for democracy in many Muslim-majority countries. A wave of initial revolutions and protests faded gradually by the mid of 2012 as many Arab Spring demonstrations met with violent responses from authorities as well as from pro-government militias. These attacks were answered with violence from protesters. The large-scale conflicts resulted in: The Syrian Civil War, Yemen Crisis, Libyan Civil War, Egyptian crisis.
A movement that was aimed to end corruption, increase political participation, ease the internet rules, and bring about better living standards for people soon collapsed in the wake of counter revolutionary moves by foreign state actors in Yemen, the regional and international interventions in Bahrain and Yemen, disastrous civil wars in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen that still continue till date. These large conflicts not only resulted in Civil Wars but they also played a major role in the rise of ISIL which today we know as ISIS, the insurgency in Iraq or the Iraqi crisis. This movement saw the fall of the great Arab dictators like Muammar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak, Ali Abdullah Saleh and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
What led to Arab spring?
Years of monarchy, human rights violations, political corruption, unemployment, economic decline, inflation, poverty, lower standards of living, large number of educated yet dissatisfied youth within the entire population and a number of demographic structural factors lead to the mass protests of Arab Spring.
But even after so many issues there was no plan for rebellions, protests or even an idea of how the events would start or further take shape until the incident of 17th December 2010 that took place in Tunisia. One-man Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor who stood in front of a government office and set himself on fire and killed himself. Reason? He was approached by Tunisian authorities about his unlicensed cart. He offered to pay the fine but instead his vegetables were confiscated and he was publicly humiliated by police. Afterwards to add insult to injury, local officials refused to hear complaints of harassment and hence in protest he stood in front of a government’s office and set himself on fire. Later on, January 4th he died of his injuries. This act of Mohamed Bouazizi made him a martyr who inspired others who were suffering unemployment at the hands of a corrupt government. His death sparked a Tunisian revolution in which protesters armed themselves not only with sign boards but with mobile phones which in turn allowed the protest to spread all over the neighbouring countries. People were finally convinced to the fact that they could bring about change when on January 14th 2011, 10 days after Bouazizi’s death Tunisia’s government fell apart and the disgraced president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia. This news spread like a forest fire through social media and this made the people of Tunisia and the rest of the Arab world realize that their voice mattered and once they are united against the wrong, they can bring in change.
Events of Arab Spring
Tunisia
The self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi led to a series of increasingly violent street demonstrations that ultimately led to the ousting of the long-time disgraced president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on 14th January 2011. These protests were the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest that Tunisia had witnessed in the last three decades.
A state emergency was declared and a caretaker coalition government was formed, which included members of Ben Ali’s party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally, as well as leaders from other ministries. Later on, March 9th the government was dissolved. The then Prime Minister of Tunisia Mohamed Ghannouchi had already resigned on 27th February, and Beji Caid Essebsi became Prime Minister.
On 23rd October 2011 Tunisians had voted in the first post-revolution election to elect representatives to a 217-member constituent assembly that would be responsible for the new constitution. On 26th January 2014 a new constitution was adopted. This new constitution was seen as progressive, increasing human rights, gender equality, and government’s duty towards the people. This constitution also laid the groundwork for a new parliamentary system and making Tunisia a decentralised and open government. On 26th January 2014 Tunisia held its first parliamentary elections since the 2011 Arab Spring and its presidential election on 23rd November 2014, that finalised Tunisia’s transition to a democratic state.
Egypt
Protests in Egypt began on January 25th,2011 and lasted for about 20 days. It was on 28th January that the Egyptian government was somewhat successful in eliminating the internet access, in order to control the protestors ability to access the social media and spread the movement. The Egyptian officials were late in realising the seriousness of the movement and the fact that how fast it had spread all about the country in such a less time period. Thousands of protestors protested on the streets of Egypt. It was then, when President Hosni Mubarak dismissed his government, and later appointed a new cabinet. He also appointed the first Vice President in about thirty years.
President Mubarak ceded all presidential powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman on 10th February, but soon announced that he would remain in power until the end of his term. The protestors raged and the government was unable to control them. Soon Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned from his presidency and all the powers were transferred to the Armed Forces of Egypt. The military immediately came into action and dissolved the Egyptian Parliament and suspended the Constitution of Egypt. They promised to lift the nation’s thirty-year emergency laws. A civilian Essam Sharaf, was appointed as the Prime Minister of Egypt.
Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister Habib el-Adly were sentenced to life imprisonment on the basis of their failure to control the nation-wide protests and killings during the first six days of the Egyptian revolution. Mohamed Morsi was sworn as Egypt's first democratically elected president. Unfortunately, due to the fresh protests that started in Egypt on 22nd November 2012, the military overthrew the replacement government and President Morsi was removed from power on July 3rd 2013.
Libya
The protests in Libya began on 15th February 2011. By 18th the opposition had control over Benghazi, the country’s second largest city. The government dispatched elite troops and militia. In an attempt to recapture the lost territories but they failed to do so. By 20th February, protests had spread to the capital Tripoli, which led to a television address by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who warned the citizens and the protestors that their country was slowly sliding into civil war.
All necessary measures had to be taken in order to protect the civilians and hence on March 17, UN Security Council Resolution 1973 was adopted, authorising a no-fly zone over Libya. Just two days later France, the United States, and the United Kingdom intervened in Libya with a bombing campaign against pro-Gaddafi forces. These forces were soon backed by a coalition of 27 states from Europe and the Middle East soon joined the intervention. After a three month long battle a loyalist siege of rebel-held Misrata, the third largest city in Libya, was broken in large part due to coalition air strikes. The four major fronts of combat were generally considered to be the Nafusa Mountains, the Tripolitanian coast, the Gulf of Sidra and the southern Libyan Desert.
It was in late August that anti Gaddafi fighters captured Tripoli, scattering Gaddafi’s government and making an end to his 42 years regime. Many government institutions including Gaddafi and several top government officials, regrouped in Sirte, which was declared the capital of Libya by Gaddafi. Others fled to Sabha, Bani Walid and other remote reaches of the Libyan Desert, some also fled to neighbouring countries. Sabha fell in late September, Bani Walid was captured after a gruelling siege weeks later, and on 20 October, fighters under the aegis of the National Transitional Council seized Sirte, which led to the killing of Gaddafi in the process. Gaddafi is dead, yet till date the civil war in Libya and the Libyan crisis continues.
Syria
Protests in Syria started on 26th January 2011, when a police officer assaulted a man in public at "Al-Hareeka Street" in old Damascus. The man was arrested right after the assault. As a result, protesters called for the freedom of the arrested man. Soon a "day of rage" was set for 4–5 February, but it was uneventful. On 6th March, the Syrian security forces arrested about 15 children in Daraa, in southern Syria, for writing slogans against the government. Soon protests erupted over the arrest and abuse of the children. Daraa was to be the first city to protest against the Ba'athist government, which has been ruling Syria since 1963.
Thousands of protesters gathered in Damascus, Aleppo, al-Hasakah, Daraa, Deir Ez-Zour, and Hama on 15 March, with recently released politician Suhair Atassi becoming an unofficial spokesperson for the "Syrian revolution". The next day there were reports of approximately 3000 arrests and a few casualties, but there are no official figures on the number of deaths. On 18 April 2011, approximately 100,000 protesters sat in the central Square of Homs calling for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. Protests continued through July 2011, the government responding with harsh security clampdowns and military operations in several districts especially in the north.
On 31st July, Syrian army tanks stormed several cities including Hama, Deir Ez-Zour, Abu Kamal and Herak near Daraa. At least 136 people were killed, the highest death toll in any day since the start of the uprising. On 5th August 2011, an anti-government demonstration took place in Syria called "God is with us", during which the Syrian security forces shot the protesters from inside the ambulances and killed 11 people consequently. These protests lead to the dreadful civil war in Syria that still continues till date. Civil war wasn’t the only thing that the protests lead to, the rise of ISIS was also witnessed during this time.
Bahrain
The protests in Bahrain began on 14th February. Although The protests of Tunisia and Egypt cited as an inspiration the protests weren't meant to threaten the monarchy. The protests were largely peaceful until a pre-dawn raid by police on 17th February to clear protestors from pearl Roundabout in Manama took place, in which police killed four protestors. Following the raid, some protestors began to call for the end of the monarchy. On 18th February, armed forces opened fire on protestors when they tried to enter the roundabout leaving one fatally wounded protestor. On 21st February a pro-government Gathering of National Unity drew tens and thousands of protestors, whilst on 22nd February the number of protestors at the Pearl Roundabout peaked at over 150,000 after more than 100,000 protesters marched there and were coming under fire from the Bahraini Military which killed around 20 and injured over 100 protestors. On 14 March, GCC forces (composed mainly of Saudi and UAE troops) were requested by the government. Later these forces occupied the country.
A three-month state of emergency was declared by king Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on 15th March. The military was asked to reassert its control as clashes spread across the country. On 16th March, armed soldiers and riot police cleared the protesters' camp in the Pearl Roundabout, in which 3 policemen and 3 protesters were reported to be killed. Later, on 18th March, the government dismissed the Pearl Roundabout monument. After the lifting of emergency law on 1st June, several large rallies were conducted by the opposition parties. The police carried out midnight house raids in Shia neighborhoods, brutal beatings at checkpoints, and denial of medical care was carried out in a "campaign of intimidation"
On 23rd November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry released its report on its investigation of the events, finding that the government had systematically tortured prisoners and committed other human rights violations. It also rejected the government's claims that the protests were instigated by Iran. Although the report found that systematic torture had stopped, the Bahraini government refused entry of several international human rights groups and news organizations, and delayed the visit of a UN inspector. More than 80 people have died since the start of the uprising in Bahrain.
Yemen
Since mid-January 2011 protests have started in many towns in both the north and south of Yemen. Demonstrators in the South mainly protested against President Saleh's support to Al Qaeda. In South Yemen, the marginalization of the Southern people and the exploitation of Southern natural resources was the reason behind the protests. Other parts of the country initially protested against governmental proposals to modify the constitution of Yemen, unemployment and economic conditions, and corruption, but their demands soon included a call for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. A major demonstration of over 16,000 protesters took place in Sana'a on 27th January 2011, and soon thereafter human rights activist and politician Tawakel Karman called for a "Day of Rage" on 3 February.
On 3rd February, 20,000 protesters demonstrated against the government in Sana'a, others participated in a "Day of Rage" in Aden that was called l by Tawakel Karman, while soldiers, armed members of the General People's Congress, and many protestors held a pro-government rally in Sana'a. Concurrent with the resignation of Egyptian president Mubarak, Yemenis again returned to the streets protesting President Saleh on 11th February, in what has been dubbed a "Friday of Rage". The protests continued in the days following despite clashes with government advocates. In a "Friday of Anger" held on 18th February, tens of thousands of Yemenis took part in anti-government demonstrations in the major cities of Sana'a, Taiz, and Aden.
Saleh pretended to accept a Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered plan allowing him to cede power in exchange for immunity from prosecution. But he backed away before signing three separate times. An assassination was attempted on 3rd June, it left him and several other high-ranking Yemeni officials injured by a blast in the presidential compound's mosque. Saleh was sent to Saudi Arabia for treatment and before leaving he handed over power to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who largely continued Saleh’s policies and ordered the arrest of several Yemenis in connection with the attack on the presidential compound. On 23rd September, three months since the assassination attempt, Saleh returned to Yemen abruptly, defying all earlier expectations. Pressure on Saleh to sign the GCC initiative eventually led to his doing so in Riyadh on 23rd November. Saleh thereby agreed to step down and transfer the power to his vice president. A presidential election was then held on 21st February 2012, in which Hadi (the only candidate) won 99.8% of the vote. Hadi then took the oath of office in Yemen's parliament on 25th February. By 27th February Saleh had resigned from the presidency and transferred power to Hadi. The replacement government was overthrown by Houthi rebels on 22nd January 2015, starting the Yemeni Civil War and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.
Impacts of Arab Spring on the Middle East
4 governments were overthrown as part of the events. Six protests led to governmental changes. 5 major protests and four minor protests. 3 governments were overthrown in the aftermath. Arab Spring led to 4 civil wars in the aftermath (Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen). It resulted in 1,80,000 deaths and 6 Million people were displaced approx.
Rise of Islamist "state-building" where "state failure" has taken place most prominently in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Islamists have found it easier than competing non-Islamists trying to fill the void of state failure, by securing external funding, weaponry and fighters – "many of which have come from abroad and have rallied around a pan-Islamic identity". The norms of governance in these Islamist areas are militia-based, and the governed submit to their authority out of fear, loyalty, other reasons, or some combination. The "most expensive" of these new "models" is the Islamic State
Increasing sectarianism (primarily Sunni-Shia) at least in part from proxy wars and the escalation of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict. Islamists are fighting Islamists across sectarian lines in Lebanon (Sunni militants targeting Hezbollah positions), Yemen (between mainstream Sunni Islamists of al-Islah and the Shiite Zaydi Houthi movement), in Iraq (Islamic State and Iraqi Shiite militias).
Counter-revolution and civil wars
Reflecting on what happened first in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain and then in Libya, Yemen and Syria, Middle East correspondent and author Patrick Cockburn observed that, eight years later, the protesters in Sudan and Algeria had learned some lessons from the defeats. "Some of the powerful forces determined to stop revolutionary change in the Arab world," stated Cockburn, "are the same in 2019 as they were in 2011. The Arab Spring was a curious mix of revolution and counter-revolution to a degree seldom appreciated in the west." But with the survival of the regime in Egypt and the rolling back of what was gained in the short period after the overthrow of Mubarak, the persistence, or even the worsening, of the socio-economic conditions that led to the Tunisian uprising, a Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain assisted the defeat of the uprising in the country, and especially the descent of other uprisings into brutal 'civil' wars in Syria, Libya and Yemen, with acute humanitarian crises, there are many in capitals around the world who find it convenient to insist that a strongman is needed to deal with the peoples of this region. It is a racist, bigoted argument and should be called out as such, but many political leaders of the region are quite comfortable promoting it. Indeed, many of the counterrevolutionary moves in the region happened precisely because they agree with that argument.
My take on Arab spring:
I feel it’s wrong to say that the Arab spring failed. The aims of Arab Spring were achieved in some countries while in others the outcomes were momentary. In countries like Syria, Iraq, Yemen negative outcomes prevailed the positive ones. Negative consequences for various regional economies such as slowing remittance flow, hiking oil prices and disrupting local stock markets, according to a new study has been observed. Along with this humanitarian crisis, refugee crisis, statelessness was also the outcome of this event.
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