Arab Spring 2.0

This statement is quite relatable to the 2011 revolution that swept nations in West Asia and North Africa. Dictatorial governments that ruled over societies were brought down after commoners started protesting against them. One cannot view this as a mere protest, but severe retaliation against decades of elite rule and corruption millions faced. Egypt and Tunisia being prime centers of the revolution, commonly know as the Arab Spring, witnessed large scale demonstrations in their capitals. It was not a one-day situation, but continued for weeks with the sole intention for protesters to topple their governments.

The ‘Tahrir Square’, is a public forum of high political significance in this context. Egyptians demanded that Hosni Mubarak step down and retreat. Worried by the extent of the protests, Hosni left Egypt to the control of the military and fled. One of the highlights of the policies of Mubarak and his predecessor Anwar Sadat was their alignment with USA in the Israel matter. Being an Islam-majority nation, this policy leniency towards USA or Israel didn’t receive public acceptance. Mubarak feared a change in this particular policy if another party or opposition comes to power. This was one of the prime reasons that made him continue his rule for decades in Egypt without letting any other group or party come to power. Zine-El Abidine Ben Ali, who governed for over two decades, flew to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fearing the depth of the movements that was happening in his own nation.

Post that, nations like Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya had its version of protests. But they turned to be the most violent as well as repressive, and became regions of proxy wars carried out by powerful economic and military players in the international arena. Yemen is currently facing the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis. Syria is having shortages in terms of medical supplies, food and other essentials. While Lebanon and Libya have parts of their territories taken over by various rebel groups who maintain their power and supremacy by controlling the oil resources of the region.

People are facing uncertainties about their present and future in these nations due to lack of an effective leadership and proper governance. But the situation is not as extreme as this in Egypt, Tunisia or Algeria for that matter. In fact, they share borders with Libya as well, which is a nation that is deep divided from within. Few questions arose in the minds of scholars and political scientists as to why the impact of Arab Spring was uneven. It was also noticed that the ones who took to the streets are not elderly groups, but rather the youth of the country. What makes and made the youth active is the second most important question that was brought up as well. The most important of all is the resurgent aspect of Arab revolutions. Even almost after a decade, there are waves of protests emerging in same nations. This discourse stresses on reasons behind that resurgence as well.

The impact of the Arab spring is uneven to the extent wherein it is impossible to even draw conclusions on the changes and effects of the same post 2011. The best example of it is the war ravaged Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula. The revolution that started off in Tunisia spread to parts of Asia minor, and Yemen was one of them.

The pro-democracy supporters and activists raised demands against Ali-Abdullah Saleh’s rule that had lasted long enough to cause economic inequality and oppression in Yemen. The country didn’t deteriorate because of these protests, but the intervention that was made during the protest movements and afterwards by regional powers such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iran and KSA have their differences, in terms of religion and governing matters from decades which is quite prominent in West Asian politics. The former nation trying to regain its supremacy in the Arab world citing their historical significance and being self-addressed as ‘true holders’ of Islamic values, while the latter is trying to reform the entire political, economic and social system under crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman by keeping close ties with ‘The Great Satan’ and ‘The Small Satan’ that are Iran’s all-time adversaries.

Both the countries counter each other’s actions and policies in the grounds of Yemen by backing their troops and forces in fighting the opponents. The country has become nothing but a proxy war region in the process of Iran and KSA trying to install respective loyal puppet governments. The Saudi-led forces keep carrying out attacks in parts in and around the capital while the Houthis, who are said to have the backing of Iran’s military, conduct similar operations in the Yemen-Saudi borders, as both nations share geographical proximity.

The young generation, commonly addressed as the ‘youth’, is the biggest asset and support system a nation can have. Their importance is unquestioned in a developing nation where they have got to play a vital role in its research and development. But everything collapses when these groups are discontent about the conditions of the society they live in. For example, in Syria, teenage children were ready to pick up arms and fight against Bashar Al-Assad’s forces during the revolution.

One of the primary reasons was the unequal benefits of the economic policies that were implemented by Assad government. The opportunities given were certainly not enough for the youth or even the working classes to prosper. The protests were heightened to the extreme limit when the forces loyal to Assad’s government started to fire on the protestors and torture locals. Even in Tunisia, Algeria, one of the reasons was definitely the lack of representative democratic structure. But it was not just that. This youth was exposed to a wide variety of choices and freedom that prevailed in most of the European nations. They witnessed the developments in such nations in terms of individual freedom through mainly social media. They aspired to have similar developments in terms of greater equality, opportunities to choose and an efficient administrative structure in their own nations. The mass media combined with anger among the youngsters triggered many of the protests and movements in the Arab states. People took to social platforms like Facebook and twitter which assisted many in bringing large crowds of people together to rise against their government and expose their ineffectiveness to rule.

The most important of all is the resurgence of the protests. Starting from late 2019, many protests sprouted in the very same nations that once witnessed the Arab spring. But this time the demands raised by the protests were not so different from the ones that were raised earlier. The aftereffects of the 2011–12 protests are felt significantly even today in West Asian and North-African regions.

This time, there has been vigorous demands for economic changes being raised by the populations. It is a fact to be acknowledged that the political scenario has changed from worse to better with the revolution. But the economic situation is what people seek to improve. For example, few of the officials who had been loyal to Ben Ali in Tunisia occupy prominent positions in the Tunisian government. High public debt along with an increase in prices of essential goods has caused major unrest once again in these regions. But the scenario was only slightly different in Egypt under the Al-Sisi government. The transfer of the islands of Sanafir and Tiran, which people felt traditionally was their nations’ assets, created a ruckus among Egyptians. The reason behind this resentment goes back to the Arab-Israeli wars when these islands were used by Egyptian forces to launch attacks against Israel amidst wars. In fact, the public in Egypt have a sentimental attachment to these islands since the wars between the troops broke out from there. The public accused Al-Sisi of this transfer of the islands to Saudi Arabia in return for monarchical backing to Sisi’s government.

It is not an easy task to draw conclusions on the impact of the Arab Spring. As mentioned before, nations like Yemen and Syria continue to be a ‘game area’ for a number of countries like KSA, United States of America, Russia, Turkey, Iran, etc. They have turned out to be areas to vent out animosity toward each other’s actions in international politics and nothing short of that. The geo-political, religious and mercantile concerns of these nations have resulted in loss, loss that will remain irreversible unless and until a permanent solution is created in regard of that loss. It might be too utopian or idealistic for anyone to think that differences can ever be eradicated in the international arena, keeping in mind the past and ideological differences between these nations. But one common consideration that the major powers need to have is the cost. The cost in terms of life and property, infrastructure, sustainable developments, and the rich historicity that the WANA regions possess.

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