Arab Spring

This article is about the demonstrations and revolts in the Arab world in the early 2010s. For other Arab revolts, see Arab Revolt (disambiguation).

Arab Spring
Clockwise from the upper left corner:
Protesters gathered at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, 9 February 2011;
Habib Bourguiba Boulevard, protesters in Tunis, Tunisia, 14 January 2011;
dissidents in Sanaa, Yemen, calling for president Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign on 3 February 2011;
crowds of hundreds of thousands in Baniyas, Syria, 29 April 2011
Date17 December 2010 – December 2012 (~2 years)
Location
North Africa and Middle East (MENA or Arab world)
Caused by
Goals
Methods
Resulted inArab Spring concurrent incidents,
Arab Winter,
Impact of the Arab Spring,
and Second Arab Spring
Full result by country
Casualties
Death(s)c. 61,000 deaths in total (international estimate; see table below)
Part of a series on
Political revolution
French Revolution
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By other characteristic
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The Arab Spring (Arabic: الربيع العربي, romanized: ar-rabīʻ al-ʻarabī) or the First Arab Spring (to distinguish from the Second Arab Spring) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and economic stagnation.[1][2] From Tunisia, the protests then spread to five other countries: Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain. Rulers were deposed (Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia in 2011, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya in 2011, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in 2011, and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen in 2012) or major uprisings and social violence occurred including riots, civil wars, or insurgencies. Sustained street demonstrations took place in Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Sudan. Minor protests took place in Djibouti, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.[3] A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world is ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām! (Arabic: الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام, lit. 'the people want to bring down the regime').[4]

The wave of initial revolutions and protests faded by mid to late 2012, as many Arab Spring demonstrations were met with violent responses from authorities,[5][6][7] pro-government militias, counterdemonstrators, and militaries. These attacks were answered with violence from protesters in some cases.[8][9][10] Multiple large-scale conflicts followed: the Syrian civil war;[11][12] the rise of ISIL,[13] insurgency in Iraq and the following civil war;[14] the Egyptian Crisis, election and removal from office of Mohamed Morsi, and subsequent unrest and insurgency;[15] the Libyan Crisis; and the Yemeni crisis and subsequent civil war.[16] Regimes that lacked major oil wealth and hereditary succession arrangements were more likely to undergo regime change.[17]

A power struggle continued after the immediate response to the Arab Spring. While leadership changed and regimes were held accountable, power vacuums opened across the Arab world. Ultimately, it resulted in a contentious battle between a consolidation of power by religious elites and the growing support for democracy in many Muslim-majority states.[18] The early hopes that these popular movements would end corruption, increase political participation, and bring about greater economic equity quickly collapsed in the wake of the counter-revolutionary moves by foreign state actors in Yemen,[19] the regional and international military interventions in Bahrain and Yemen, and the destructive civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen.[20]

Some have referred to the succeeding and still ongoing conflicts as the Arab Winter.[11][12][14][15][16] Recent uprisings in Sudan and Algeria show that the conditions that started the Arab Spring have not faded and political movements against authoritarianism and exploitation are still occurring.[21] Since late 2018, multiple uprisings and protest movements in Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt have been seen as a continuation of the Arab Spring.[22][23]

As of 2021, multiple conflicts are still continuing that might be seen as a result of the Arab Spring. The Syrian Civil War has caused massive political instability and economic hardship in Syria, with the Syrian pound plunging to new lows.[24] In Libya, a major civil war recently concluded, with foreign powers intervening.[25][26] In Yemen, a civil war continues to affect the country.[27] In Lebanon, a major banking crisis is threatening the country's economy as well as that of neighboring Syria.

  1. ^ "Peddler's martyrdom launched Tunisia's revolution". Reuters. 19 January 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Uprisings in the region and ignored indicators". Payvand. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  3. ^ Ruthven, Malise (23 June 2016). "How to Understand ISIS". New York Review of Books. 63 (11). Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference slogan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Many wounded as Moroccan police beat protestors was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Syria's crackdown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bahrain troops lay siege to protesters' camp was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Syria clampdown on protests mirrors Egypt's as thugs join attacks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Yemeni government supporters attack protesters, injuring hundreds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Libya Protests: Gaddafi Militia Opens Fire on demonstrators was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b Karber, Phil (18 June 2012). Fear and Faith in Paradise. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4422-1479-8. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Arab Winter". America. 28 December 2012. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  13. ^ Al-Marashi, Ibrahim (2017), "Iraq and the Arab Spring: From Protests to the Rise of ISIS", The Arab Spring (2 ed.), Routledge, pp. 147–164, doi:10.4324/9780429494581-8, ISBN 978-0-429-49458-1, archived from the original on 6 August 2023, retrieved 6 August 2023
  14. ^ a b "Analysis: Arab Winter is coming to Baghdad". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Egypt and Tunisia's new 'Arab winter'". Euro news. 8 February 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Yemen's Arab winter". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  17. ^ "Tracking the "Arab Spring": Why the Modest Harvest?". Journal of Democracy. Archived from the original on 7 January 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  18. ^ Hoyle, Justin A. "A Matter of Framing: Explaining The Failure of Post-Islamist Social Movements in the Arab Spring." DOMES: Digest of Middle East Studies 25.2 (2016): 186–209. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 November 2016.
  19. ^ Filkins, Dexter (2 April 2018). "A Saudi Prince's Quest to Remake the Middle East". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  20. ^ Hassan, Islam; Dyer, Paul (2017). "The State of Middle Eastern Youth". The Muslim World. 107 (1): 3–12. doi:10.1111/muwo.12175. ISSN 0027-4909. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  21. ^ "The Long Arab Spring". jacobinmag.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  22. ^ "From Lebanon to Iraq, the Arab Spring never ended, it just gets bigger". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 13 September 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Are we seeing a new Arab Spring?". Are we seeing a new Arab Spring?. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  24. ^ "US 'Caesar Act' sanctions could devastate Syria's flatlining economy". The Guardian. 12 June 2020. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  25. ^ Libya has a chance at peace but Russia and the US are in the way Haftar seems to be on his way out, while Turkey risks creating a new Afghanistan on Europe's southern flank Archived 10 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, by Ahmed Aboudouh, June 9, 2020. Russia's ally, General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the self-proclaimed National Libyan Army, has lost his 14-month military campaign to capture the capital Tripoli. His rivals in the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces, backed by -extremist militias, managed to chase his troops deep into the east of the country.
  26. ^ Danger of 'miscalculation' as global powers scramble for position in Libya. Fighting moves from west to centre and south of country, as Egypt advances towards border, and Tripoli ignores truce calls. Borzou Daragahi, Oliver Carroll. June 8, 2020 Archived 10 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
  27. ^ Yemen's Government demands UN action regards Houthi violation of deal Archived 13 September 2024 at the Wayback Machine, Yemen's government has demanded UN action against Iran-backed Houthi militants for violating the Hodeidah deal, state news agency Saba New reported. Yemen's Economic Council – a state advisory body composed of cabinet members – said the militants looted the central bank in Hodeidah city and were delaying the fuel and food that arrive at the Hodeidah port. The looted funds were supposed to be used to pay salaries of public workers, who have not received payments for months, according to the report. This money will now "feed the militia's pointless war," the council said. On Wednesday, Yemen's Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani said Houthis are looting and extorting the private healthcare sector.