Lauri Laker. Arab Spring and Social Media Technology. 2013. Web. 10 May. 2014.
The article “Arab Spring and Social Media Technology” written by Lauri Laker describes the role of social media in social awakening of Arab youth in the Arab peninsula. The writer has covered different aspects of Arab spring including the phases of a revolution. In the article, the writer has projected the social media as a force to be reckoned with, as it has helped overthrowing number of dictatorships and monarchies during the Arab Spring. The article is a related to the given topic of Arab spring and highlights one major actor causing the change in the Arab region. Other three chosen sources also deal with the Arab Spring and different factors that brought the change in the Arab world. Tone is of the source is balanced and audience are the people interested in having an in-depth knowledge of the Arab Spring.
Cannistraro, Vincent. Arab Spring: A Partial Awakening. Mediterranean Quarterly Fall. 2011. Print.
The article “Arab Spring: A Partial Awakening” written by Vincent Cannistraro highlights the effects of Arab spring on the interest of Western democracies in the Middle and North Eastern nations. The writer thinks the change in Arab peninsula will compel America to change her policies in the region due to overthrowing of America sponsored dictatorships and monarchies. American interests in the region will take a new shape due to the changed regional environment. The article is about the assigned topic of Arab spring and highlights the changed political scenario and resultant changes in American policies in the region. Other three chosen sources have the same Arab spring in common which is the topic of the research. Tone is of the source is balanced and audience is more of American policy makers and less of the people involved in the Arab spring or people affected by the Arab spring.
Samnani, Hina, and Lolla Mohammed Nur. Crowd mapping Arab Spring - Next Social Media Breakthrough? Voice of America. 2011. Print.
The article ” Crowd mapping Arab Spring - Next Social Media Breakthrough” written by Hina Samnani and Lolla Nur Mohammad gives details of various events related to the Arab Spring and crowdmaps the project of Arab spring in order to allow the citizens of Arab countries to submit information and footage to the website. The article is related to the topic of Arab spring and also have link with the other three sources on account of commonality of the subject. The article has a varied tone that keeps fluctuating throughout. Audience and participants of the crowdmapping are the citizens of Arab countries.
Korany, Bahgat, and Rabab El-Mahdi. Arab Spring in Egypt: Revolution and Beyond. American University in Cairo. Web. 10 May. 2014.
The article “Arab Spring in Egypt: Revolution and Beyond” by Bahgat Korany and Rabab El-Mahdi and published by American University in Cairo, Egypt. It covers the revolution in Egypt that is part of the Arab spring. The article focuses on the factors leading to the revolution and events during the course of uprising. The book was the first publication after the start of revolution and gives a considerate viewpoint about the subject. The source is related to one segment of Arab spring and therefore also associated with other sources on account of the single subject all sources deal with. The book is a reliable source and has been a surefire hit with all the booksellers across the world.
Research Paper on Arab Spring
The term “Arab Spring” was tossed in December 2010 in the context of wave of protests and demonstrations in the Arab world that started in Tunisia, and engulfed most of Arab peninsula in a very short period. Arab youth and social media are the two major actors who exploited the factors of poverty and corruption. Social awakening among Arabs overthrew the long established monarchies and dictatorship. The social awareness in Arabs is likely to increase in the future, and is expected to bring further social and political changes in the Arab region.
The Arab Spring is a new term that covers the civil wars and all kinds of riots and demonstrations recently been going on in the Arab world (Lauri 2). In just a short period of three years, regimes were changed in four Arab countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen). There were protests and demonstrations in other Arab countries like Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordon, Syria, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan and Iraq. Small scale protests were also held in countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Western Sahara, the Palestinian territories, Mauritania and Djibouti. In Lebanon, the sectarian clashes were taken as a result of protests and demonstrations in Syria, and was called as the Arab Spring of the region. Despite the efforts by governments across the Arab countries, to not to allow the protests and demonstration held, social media was effectively used to organize protests, communicate with masses and increase wakefulness among the people. The major demand of the demonstrators during the Arab Spring has been to remove the corrupt governments in the country and poverty from the society (Samnani and Nur 14).
U.S. Army Special Forces doctrine identifies three phases of the revolution: the inception phase, followed by Insurgency, and a war of movement (Lauri 13). It is the inception phase where the leaders organizing the movement tilt the public opinion in their favor and recruit people under their banner. At this stage, the new ideology is spread, and sources of external support are developed and coordinated through social media. Most of revolutions led by youth are fed with the idea of no change at the top and one individual or a group of individuals enjoying the ultimate authority. In Arab Spring, it was youth that played the major role and caused the toppling of governments in the number of countries (Cannistraro 7). Two third population of the Arab Spring region is under 25 years of age and they fought against the decades of silent subjugation, poverty and corruption of their leaders. These groups mainly consisted of young, urban and well educated individuals, many of their women. The whole idea of Arab springs revolves around the new generation of Arab region and youth is likely to take full advantage of long anticipated social awakening.
