The Arab Spring of 2011 is the geopolitical event that began at the end of 2010, whereby the world witnessed citizens in these regions come together to overthrow their governments. The dictatorial regimes, the citizen’s dissatisfaction, and the resultant results portray a political picture of the region’s political origins and how it is unique from the other areas worldwide. The Arab spring case will provide a basis for a comparative framework with world politics by identifying the individual factors that led to the revolutionary events of 2011.
Most countries in the Middle East were ruled by authoritarian leaders, some of them ruling for decades. This intensified the need for political freedom within these jurisdictions. The main slogan adopted during the protests throughout the Arab Spring translated to “the people want to bring down the regime” (Aissa, 2012). The social desire to attain additional civil rights became an active driving force for the protests. Additionally, armies exercised vast authority. The concentration of power among a few hands hindered the democracy of the people. This further encouraged corruption in these states. These authoritarian governments were fortified and left no room for democracy.
Another fundamental component of why the Arab Spring occurred was the dwindling nature of the economy in most of the countries in this region. The citizens felt that the economy was weakened by their current political and leadership structures. Long-standing authoritarian regimes ensure that dissent concerning economic stagnation is crushed through state forces, and the winner takes all electoral systems (O’neil et al., 2018). Resultantly, the economies in these regions were primarily headed by the influential figures behind the regime, their families, and their political sycophants. These systems accumulatively led to high costs of leaving that led to citizens citing their political economies as the reasons for their suffering. Therefore, citizens revolted against the government and its administrative function to pursue equal economic opportunities that dictator regimes had oppressed.
Another reason that triggered the Arab spring was social media’s power. Social media has been one of the most powerful forces of social and political change. When citizens from different regions communicate, they can share ideas and differences. Most authoritarian regimes suppress the right to access information to avoid these changes. However, social media is international and is virtually free from excessive state capture or ownership. Citizens in dictatorship regimes could see positive correlations between pro-democracy stances and politics and economic growth and development. Resultantly, citizens started forming opinions and stances on how their long-standing authoritarian systems were directly involved in their rights, freedoms, and opportunities.
Another reason was the growth of neoliberal dogma in the world. Neoliberal dogma indicates that states should be based on the private sector as the drivers of growth and development while the state’s role should be limited. Additionally, the dogma illustrates that political violence is a powerful tool that most developed and developing nations must adapt when it needs a social upheaval. This idea was gaining popularity in Arab nations, and the initial nations’ protestors faced violence, making it more intense.
Conclusion
Politics and leadership are based on regions and their cultures. These structures govern these regions’ political, social, and economic nature. Therefore, regions can establish long-standing regimes and systems unique to them. However, the Arab spring illustrated one similarity in societies and their political nature; once the citizens feel their human and economic rights are being suppressed, they are likely to result in political violence. Societal equality and equity ideas tend to triumph long-withstanding cultural and traditional regimes. The Arab spring was triggered by economic dissatisfaction, political dissent, and access to information on other concepts of national democracies.
References
Aissa, L. C. (2012). The Arab Spring: Causes, Consequences, and Implications. PENNSYLVANIA: U.S. Army War College
O’Neil, P. H., Fields, K., & Share, D. (2018). Cases and concepts in comparative politics: An integrated approach (1st ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. ISBN: 9780393631302 (Pbk.)
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