The Arab Spring and its consequences in the countries of the Middle East and the Maghreb in the assessments of modern researchers

The Arab Spring was a series of pro-democracy uprisings that enveloped several largely Muslim countries, including Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain. The events in these nations generally began in the spring of 2011, which led to the name. However, the political and social impact of these popular uprisings remains significant today, years after many of them ended.

What Is the Arab Spring? The Arab Spring was a loosely related group of protests that ultimately resulted in regime changes in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Not all of the movements, however, could be deemed successfulat least if the end goal was increased democracy and cultural freedom. In fact, for many countries enveloped by the revolts of the Arab Spring, the period since has been hallmarked by increased instability and oppression. Given the significant impact of the Arab Spring throughout northern Africa and the Middle East, its easy to forget the series of large-scale political and social movements arguably began with a single act of defiance.

Jasmine Revolution The Arab Spring began in December 2010 when Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire to protest the arbitrary seizing of his vegetable stand by police over failure to obtain a permit. Bouazizis sacrificial act served as a catalyst for the so-called Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. The street protests that ensued in Tunis, the countrys capital, eventually prompted authoritarian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to abdicate his position and flee to Saudi Arabia. He had ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 20 years. Activists in other countries in the region were inspired by the regime change in Tunisiathe countrys first democratic parliamentary elections were held in October 2011and began to protest similar authoritarian governments in their own nations. The participants in these grassroots movements sought increased social freedoms and greater participation in the political process. Notably, this includes the Tahrir Square uprisings in Cairo, Egypt and similar protests in Bahrain. However, in some cases, these protests morphed into full-scale civil wars, as evidenced in countries such as Libya, Syria and Yemen.

Why The Name Arab Spring? The name "Arab Spring is a reference to the Revolutions of 1848also known as the Peoples Springwhen political upheavals swept Europe. Ever since, spring has been used to describe movements toward democracy like Czechoslovakias 1968 Prague Spring. Western media began popularizing the term Arab Spring in 2011.

Arab Spring Aftermath While the uprising in Tunisia led to some improvements in the country from a human-rights perspective, not all of the nations that witnessed such social and political upheaval in the spring of 2011 changed for the better. Most notably, in Egypt, where early changes arising from the Arab Spring gave many hope after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, authoritarian rule has apparently returned. Following the controversial election of Mohamed Morsi in 2012, a coup led by defense minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi installed the latter as president in 2013, and he remains in power today.

What Was the Aim of the Protests? The protest movement of 2011 was, at its core, an expression of deep-seated resentment at the aging Arab dictatorships (some glossed over with rigged elections), anger at the brutality of the security apparatus, unemployment, rising prices, and corruption that followed the privatization of state assets in some countries. But unlike Communist Eastern Europe in 1989, there was no consensus on the political and economic model that existing systems should be replaced with. Protesters in monarchies like Jordan and Morocco wanted to reform the system under the current rulers, some calling for an immediate transition to constitutional monarchy. Others were content with gradual reform. People in republican regimes like Egypt and Tunisia wanted to overthrow the president, but other than free elections they had little idea what to do next. And, beyond calls for greater social justice, there was no magic wand for the economy. Leftist groups and unions wanted higher wages and a reversal of dodgy privatization deals, others wanted liberal reforms to make more room for the private sector. Some hardline Islamists were more concerned with enforcing strict religious norms. All political parties promised more jobs but none came close to developing a program with concrete economic policies.

A Success or Failure? The Arab Spring was a failure only if one expected that decades of authoritarian regimes could be easily reversed and replaced with stable democratic systems across the region. It has also disappointed those hoping that the removal of corrupt rulers would translate into an instant improvement in living standards. Chronic instability in countries undergoing political transitions has put additional strain on struggling local economies, and deep divisions have emerged between the Islamists and secular Arabs. But rather than a single event, its probably more useful to define the 2011 uprisings as a catalyst for long-term change whose final outcome is yet to be seen. The main legacy of the Arab Spring is in smashing the myth of Arabs political passivity and the perceived invincibility of arrogant ruling elites. Even in countries that avoided mass unrest, the governments take the quiescence of the people at their own peril.