Back in 2011, a wave of peaceful and violent protests swept across the Arab world. These protests later came to be referred to as the Arab Spring (Haerens and Zott 5). The civil protests began in Tunisia when a fruit vendor burned himself in front of a government building (Haerens and Zott 2). These civilian uprisings led to the eviction of rulers from power in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen (McCaffrey 5). However, the reception of the Arab Uprising varied from country to country. In some countries the uprisings were met with violent opposition from the government while in others they were met with support from anti-government militants (McCaffrey 6). In order to understand why different countries of the Arab world responded differently to the Arab Spring, this essay presents an analysis of this region by examining how the countries vary differently i.e. the government response to the protests and the reasons for the protests.
The Arab World
The Arab World can further be divided into three different regions i.e. Mashreq, Maghreb and the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabian Peninsula which comprises of countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen (Brynen et al. 69). In spite of the countries being democratically young i.e. these countries achieved independence recently, they were the first to be introduced to globalization with the arrival of Western oil companies in the nineteenth century (Brynen et al. 69). The Mashreq comprises of countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. It was in this region that political ideologies and developments began in the Arab World. These countries are characterized by high levels of unemployment and young population (Brynen et al. 41). The Maghreb which consists of countries from North Africa include; Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco. This region was never considered a front for political developments in the Arab World but this changed after the Arab Spring began in Tunisia (Brynen et al. 17). Although referred collectively as the Arab World, these regions have some differences that distinguish them from one another.
Grievances
During the Arab Springs uprisings, the public was protesting over different reasons. In Tunisia, where the protests initially begun, people were rioting over the economic inequality amongst social classes, corruption in government agencies and the lack of sound and reasonable political voice (Haerens and Zott 16). The rioters who were predominantly composed of the young population were also rioting over the increased levels of unemployment. In Egypt, the protests began in January 25th 2011 during the national holiday of Police Day. The rioters called for an end of the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak which was marred with corruption, injustices and terrible economic conditions (Haerens and Zott 18).
In Bahrain, an Arabian Peninsula country, protests were sparked by the sectarian rift between the Shias and the Sunnis (Bonnefoy and Louër par.1). In Yemen, the protests were triggered by the series of processes of change both at the social and political level and the public outcry for leadership reforms (Bonnefoy and Louër par.2). The sectarian divides was the major reasons why the Arab Spring sprang up in the Arabian Peninsula (Bonnefoy and Louër par.7)
In the Mashreq, just like in the Maghreb, the main grievances aired by the protesters were corruption, social inequities and poor delivery of services. The state of public amenities such as roads, hospitals and schools were in a deplorable state while the high class of the society enjoyed the excesses of the countries’ resources. The protesters were calling for an equitable distribution of resources (Haerens and Zott 27).
Government Response
The governments of these regions responded differently to the Arab Spring uprisings. For example, the Arab Spring led to major government shake-ups and restructuring in the Maghreb. These riots led to the overthrowing of the Libyan government which at the time was led by Muammar Gaddafi (McCaffrey 31). Other similar restructuring were evidenced in Tunisia with the ousting of President Ben Ali and in Egypt with the arrest and incarceration of President Hosni Mubarak. The governments’ efforts to overcome the civilian uprising were not enough since most of them were overthrown (McCaffrey 31).
In the Arabian Peninsula, unlike in the Maghreb, the Arab Spring was met with a lot of opposition from the government. The government of Syria under the leadership of President Assad, formed the Syrian National Council to organize tactics that would bring an end to the uprisings. The Armed Forces also used excessive force against civilian militants which led to the Syrian government to be criticized by other countries such as the United States and international bodies such as the European Union. The Yemeni government also responded the same which the Syrian government did. It organized the military to respond swiftly to any civilian protests and other threats that would disrupt the otherwise “peaceful” country (McCaffrey 35).
In the Mashreq the governments tried to end the civil uprising by enacting laws that would try to change the vices the public was rioting over (McCaffrey 41). The parliaments of these countries set up tribunals that would look into the issues raised by the public and suggest solutions that would be implemented to put a stop to the unrest. In Palestine, the Basic Law was amended to the Judicial law in order to accommodate the demands of the public (McCaffrey 41). The Lebanese parliament formed a tribunal that would discuss with the Hezbollah-a faction that led the civilian protests in Lebanon. The Hezbollah, however, boycotted the proceedings of the tribunal terming them as a method by the United States and Israel to control the sovereignty of the country.
Works Cited
Bonnefoy, Laurent, and Laurence Louër. "Introduction: The Arab Spring In The Arabian Peninsula And Its Aftermath". Arabian Humanities. Revue internationale d’archéologie et de sciences sociales sur la péninsule Arabique/International Journal of Archaeology and Social Sciences in the Arabian Peninsula 4 (2015): n. pag. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
Brynen, Rex et al. Beyond the Arab Spring. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2012. Print.
Guides.library.cornell.edu,. "Egypt - Arab Spring: A Research & Study Guide * الربيع العربي - Libguides At Cornell University". N.p., 2016. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
McCaffrey, Paul. The Arab Spring. Ipswich, Mass.: H.W. Wilson, 2012. Print.
Haerens, Margaret, and Lynn M Zott. The Arab Spring. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Print.
