DISCUSS THE CAUSES, OR INCIDENCE AND EVALUATE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVOLUTION IN ARAB AFRICAN OF RECENT.

UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT: POLITICAL SCIENCE COURSE TITLE: REVOLUTION AND SOCIETY COURSE CODE: PLS 416 Introduction Arab Spring, wave of pro-democracy protests and uprisings that took place in the Middle East and North Africa beginning in 2010 and 2011, challenging some of the region’s entrenched authoritarian regimes. The wave began when protests in Tunisia and Egypt toppled their regimes in quick succession, inspiring similar attempts in other Arab countries. Not every country saw success in the protest movement, however, and demonstrators expressing their political and economic grievances were often met with violent crackdowns by their countries’ security forces. The Arab Spring (Arabic: الربيع العربي, romanized: ar-rabīʻ al-ʻarabī) or the First 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'). The wave of initial revolutions and protests faded by mid-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, coup, 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. 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, the regional and international military interventions in Bahrain and Yemen, and the destructive civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen. Some have referred to the succeeding and still ongoing conflicts as the Arab Winter. As of May 2018, only the uprising in Tunisia has resulted in a transition to constitutional democratic governance.[3] 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. 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. In Libya, a major civil war recently concluded, with foreign powers intervening. In Yemen, a civil war continues to affect the country ] In Lebanon, a major banking crisis is threatening the country's economy as well as that of neighboring Syria. Causes of Arab spring i. Pressures from within The world watched the events of the Arab Spring unfold, "gripped by the narrative of a young generation peacefully rising up against oppressive authoritarianism to secure a more democratic political system and a brighter economic future".[20] The Arab Spring is widely believed to have been instigated by dissatisfaction, particularly of youth and unions, with the rule of local governments, though some have speculated that wide gaps in income levels and pressures caused by the Great Recession may have had a hand as well.[41] Some activists had taken part in programs sponsored by the US-funded National Endowment for Democracy, but the US government claimed that they did not initiate the uprisings. Numerous factors led to the protests, including issues such as reform,[43] human rights violations, political corruption, economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, and a number of demographic structural factors,[44] such as a large percentage of educated but dissatisfied youth within the entire population.[45][46] Catalysts for the revolts in all Northern African and Persian Gulf countries included the concentration of wealth in the hands of monarchs in power for decades, insufficient transparency of its redistribution, corruption, and especially the refusal of the youth to accept the status quo. Some protesters looked to the Turkish model as an ideal (contested but peaceful elections, fast-growing but liberal economy, secular constitution but Islamist government).[48][49][50][51] Other analysts blamed the rise in food prices on commodity traders and the conversion of crops to ethanol.[52] Yet others have claimed that the context of high rates of unemployment and corrupt political regimes led to dissent movements within the region. ii. Social media In the wake of the Arab Spring protests, a considerable amount of attention focused on the role of social media and digital technologies in allowing citizens within areas affected by "the Arab Uprisings" as a means for collective activism to circumvent state-operated media channels.[55] The influence of social media on political activism during the Arab Spring has, however, been much debated.[56][57][58] Protests took place both in states with a very high level of Internet usage (such as Bahrain with 88% of its population online in 2011) and in states with some of the lowest Internet penetration (Yemen and Libya). The use of social media platforms more than doubled in Arab countries during the protests, with the exception of Libya.[60] Some researchers have shown how collective intelligence, dynamics of the crowd in participatory systems such as social media, has immense power to support a collective action—such as foment a political change.[61][62] As of 5 April 2011, the number of Facebook users in the Arab world surpassed 27.7 million people.[60] Some critics have argued that digital technologies and other forms of communication—videos, cellular phones, blogs, photos, emails, and text messages—have brought about the concept of a "digital democracy" in parts of North Africa affected by the uprisings. Facebook, Twitter, and other major social media played a key role in the movement of Egyptian and Tunisian activists in particular. Nine out of ten Egyptians and Tunisians responded to a poll that they used Facebook to organize protests and spread awareness.[60] This large population of young Egyptian men referred to themselves as "the Facebook generation", exemplifying their escape from their non-modernized past. Furthermore, 28% of Egyptians and 29% of Tunisians from the same poll said that blocking Facebook greatly hindered and/or disrupted communication. Social media sites were a platform for different movements formed by many frustrated citizens, including the 2008 "April 6 Youth Movement" organized by Ahmed Mahed, which set out to organize and promote a nationwide labor strike and which inspired the later creation of the "Progressive Youth of Tunisia". During the Arab Spring, people created pages on Facebook to raise awareness about alleged crimes against humanity, such as police brutality in the Egyptian Revolution (see Wael Ghonim and Death of Khaled Mohamed Saeed). Whether the project of raising awareness was primarily pursued by Arabs themselves or simply advertised by Western social media users is a matter of debate. Jared Keller, a journalist for The Atlantic, claims that most activists and protesters used Facebook (among other social media) to organize; however, what influenced Iran was "good old-fashioned word of mouth". Jared Keller argued that the sudden and anomalous social media output was caused from Westerners witnessing the situation(s), and then broadcasting them. The Middle East and North Africa used texting, emailing, and blogging only to organize and communicate information about internal local protests. A study by Zeynep Tufekci of the University of North Carolina and Christopher Wilson of the United Nations Development Program concluded that "social media in general, and Facebook in particular, provided new sources of information the regime could not easily control and were crucial in shaping how citizens made individual decisions about participating in protests, the logistics of protest, and the likelihood of success." Marc Lynch of George Washington University said, "While social media boosters envisioned the creation of a new public sphere based on dialogue and mutual respect, the reality is that Islamists and their adversaries retreat to their respective camps, reinforcing each other's prejudices while throwing the occasional rhetorical bomb across the no-man's land that the center has become."[70] Lynch also stated in a Foreign Policy article, "There is something very different about scrolling through pictures and videos of unified, chanting Yemeni or Egyptian crowds demanding democratic change and waking up to a gory image of a headless 6-year-old girl on your Facebook news feed." In the months leading up to events in Tunisia, Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Communications Program Manager Jonathan Stevens predicted the use of "collaborative Internet utilities" to effect governmental change. In his thesis, Webeaucracy: The Collaborative Revolution, Stevens put forth that unlike writing, printing, and telecommunications, "collaborative Internet utilities" denote a sea-change in the ability of crowds to effect social change. People and collaborative Internet utilities can be described as actor-networks; the subtilizing limit (and history) suggests people left to their own devices cannot fully harness the mental power of crowds. Metcalfe's law suggests that as the number of nodes increases, the value of collaborative actor-networks increases quadratically; collaborative Internet utilities effectively increase the subtilizing limit, and, at some macro scale, these interactive collaborative actor-networks can be described by the same rules that govern Parallel Distributed Processing, resulting in crowd sourcing that acts as a type of distributed collective consciousness. The Internet assumes the role of earlier totemic religious figureheads, uniting the members of society through mechanical solidarity forming a collective consciousness. Through many-to-many collaborative Internet utilities. Social networks were not the only instrument for rebels to coordinate their efforts and communicate. In the countries with the lowest Internet penetration and the limited role of social networks, such as Yemen and Libya, the role of mainstream electronic media devices—cellular phones, emails, and video clips (e.g., YouTube)—was very important to cast the light on the situation in the country and spread the word about the protests in the outside world. In Egypt, in Cairo particularly, mosques were one of the main platforms to coordinate the protest actions and raise awareness to the masses. Conversely, scholarship literature on the Middle East, political scientist Gregory Gause has found, had failed to predict the events of the Arab uprisings. Commenting on an early article by Gause whose review of a decade of Middle Eastern studies led him to conclude that almost no scholar foresaw what was coming, Chair of Ottoman and Turkish Studies at Tel Aviv University Ehud R. Toledano writes that Gause's finding is "a strong and sincere mea culpa" and that his criticism of Middle East experts for "underestimating the hidden forces driving change ... while they worked instead to explain the unshakable stability of repressive authoritarian regimes" is well-placed. Toledano then quotes Gause saying, "As they wipe the egg off their faces," those experts "need to reconsider long-held assumptions about the Arab world."[74] The Arab Spring, which began in late 2010, had a significant impact on several countries in North Africa and the Middle East. While the term "Arab African" is not commonly used, I assume you are referring to the countries in North Africa with Arab-majority populations. Let's discuss the incidence and consequences of the revolution in North African countries during that period. 1. Tunisia: The Arab Spring started in Tunisia in December 2010 after a young street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in protest against government corruption and repression. The revolution in Tunisia resulted in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. The country then underwent a transition to democracy and held free elections. Tunisia's revolution inspired people across the region and marked the beginning of the Arab Spring movement. 2. Libya: Libya experienced a protracted and violent revolution that eventually led to the overthrow and killing of its longtime ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, in October 2011. The revolution was followed by a power vacuum and internal conflict, with various armed groups vying for control. The country remains politically fragmented and faces ongoing challenges, including the presence of extremist groups and the struggle for national unity. 3. Egypt: Inspired by the events in Tunisia, Egyptians took to the streets in January 2011, demanding political change, social justice, and an end to President Hosni Mubarak's regime. After weeks of protests, Mubarak stepped down in February 2011. However, Egypt's transition to democracy faced challenges, and political instability persisted. In 2013, the military overthrew the elected President Mohamed Morsi, leading to a new era of authoritarian rule under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. 4. Algeria: Algeria witnessed significant protests in 2019, known as the "Hirak" movement, demanding political reforms and the removal of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had been in power for 20 years. The protests led to Bouteflika's resignation in April 2019. However, the political transition remains fragile, with ongoing debates over constitutional reforms and the role of the military in governance. 5. Morocco: Although Morocco did not experience a full-scale revolution, it saw widespread protests during the Arab Spring, demanding political reforms, greater democratic participation, and improved human rights. In response, King Mohammed VI introduced constitutional reforms in 2011, granting more powers to the elected parliament and the prime minister. However, challenges persist in terms of ensuring meaningful democratic reforms and addressing socio-economic disparities. The consequences of the Arab Spring in North Africa have been mixed. While the revolutions initially raised hopes for political change, democratic transitions have been challenging in many countries. Some countries experienced increased instability, internal conflicts, and the rise of extremist groups. Others have made progress in political reforms and governance, albeit with ongoing challenges. Economic repercussions, including unemployment and social inequality, continue to be pressing issues across the region. It's important to note that the situation in each country is complex and constantly evolving. The consequences of the Arab Spring are still unfolding, and the long-term outcomes and impact on Arab African countries will continue to shape their political, social, and economic trajectories. Conclusion The Arab Spring has proven to be a process more than a series of events. Its shockwave, still relentlessly reverberating, has reached areas outside the MENA region. While its long term impact has yet to be assessed, the Arab awakening challenges the international community and the United States, in particular. They must make the best interpretation of the unfolding episodes and thus come up with the right approach to deal with the underlying problems infesting this resource-rich area, in order to mesh the region‘s people with global society.The point reached by the Arab revolts, currently stumbling on Syria, raises many questions as to the right approach to deal with this political tsunami out of which both the Arab population and the international community hope will come freedom and dignity. As the world‘s superpower, the United States is even more challenged to further its values but also its interests while trying to recover from a severe global economic crisis. In this regard, any future US policy has to reckon with the new dynamics shaping the region. First, the last ten years have reinforced the emergence of regional actors with different agendas and different modus operandi. For Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the Arab springs led to perceptible though hardly declared moves to fill the vacuum left by the Obama Administration‘s soft-power approach to foreign policy. the Arab Spring epitomizes the empowerment of the masses in the MENA region. Such transfer of power requires foreign stakeholders to work closely with the nascent Arab civil societies. This change has been understood by the US and European States, not by Russia and China which still bet on ailing governments, be they the Baath regime in Syria or the Mullahs in Iran. Third, the Arab Spring fully established moderate, non-violent, and citizenfocused political Islam, as opposed to fanatic ideological Islamism. The elections held so far and the premises from Libya and even Syria, should there be a regime change in the foreseeable future, reinforce this theory.These lessons require the international community led by the United States to play a more proactive role to meet the needs of those who started these events and to whose future it will, ultimately, be either beneficial or detrimental Reference 1 Eliott Colla, ―If The People Wanted Life One Day,‖ January 16, 2011, linked from Arabic Literature (in English) Home Page, at http://arablit.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/two-translationsof-abu-al-qasim-al-shabis-if-the-people-wanted-life-one-day/ (accessed March 17, 2012). 2 Robin Wright, Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 2. 3 Gerges, A. Fawaz, ―Arab Spring,‖ Symposium, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA, January 30, 2012, cited with permission of Mr. Gerges. 4 2011 was marked by a thrust in intensity from social activists (e.g. Arab street protestors, Occupy Wall Street movement, anti-Putin protesters, British Student tuition fees protesters, Anonymous) thanks to a wide use of social media. 5 The gross foreign assets of the Arab countries for 2011 was projected to rise to $2.2 trillion ($1.7 trillion for the GCC) with more than one-third of it held by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). George T. Abed, ―The Arab World in Transition: Assessing the Economic Impact,‖ May 2, 2011, http://www.iif.com/download.php?id=OkBUBnljqeU (accessed December 2, 2011). 6 Malik, Adeel and Awadallah, Bassem, ―The Economics of the Arab Spring,” December 2011, http://www.oxcarre.ox.ac.uk/files/OxCarreRP201179.pdf (accessed January 28, 2012). 7 The Media Line Staff, ―Economies of Arab Spring countries likely to shrink this year‖ May 4, 2011, linked from Gant Daily Home Page at ―Business News,‖ http://gantdaily.com/2011/05/04/economies-of-arab-spring-countries-likely-to-