The Arab Uprisings

The Arab uprising first erupted in Tunisia 

The self-immolation of a street vendor as a response to police brutality triggered the anti-regime protests first in Tunisia and spread to other Arab countries in the MENA region. 

The Arab uprising took place in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria 

Although each country had its own specific reasons, the factors common to all were socio-economic, political, and the impact of social media.

Although the slogan of the protests were “bread, freedom and social justice”, the increase in poverty, unemployment especially among the young and educated people and income inequality were the main reasons of the uprisings.

Politically, the ruling regimes had become highly authoritarian and used violence against the opponents.

Although social media was not the cause of the uprisings, it played an important role in the organization and spreading of protests, as it provided people with the opportunity to communicate with each other and to reach accurate information which was otherwise impossible.

Protests in Tunisia were triggered by the self-immolation of a street vendor which symbolized the widespread corruption, high unemployment, and immense political repression people faced since 1987 under Ben Ali’s ruling. Although Ben Ali tried to repress the protests first by coercion then concessions, he was not successful. In fact, he had to flee the country in 2011. After two years of political instability, with the involvement of four major civil society institutions, a transition to a progressive and democratic constitution was finally complete in January 2014.

The news of protests in Tunisia and Ben Ali’s flee set an example for people of Egypt. The protests against Mubarak, who was in power since 1981, started on January 25, 2011. Like Ben Ali, Mubarak was not able to suppress the protests and he had to transfer his powers to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on February 11, 2011. Afraid of a new authoritarian regime by the military rule, new protests broke out. In June 2012, Morsi, the presidential candidate of Muslim Brotherhood’s political party (Freedom and Justice Party) became the president.

In January 2011, protests against poverty and corruption Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was in rule since 1978, started. Saleh was not able to repress the protests and the regime started to break up. In November 2011, Saleh was forced to transfer his powers to Vice-President Hadi. As the new president, Hadi was to oversee the writing of the new constitution and to hold new presidential elections within two years.

Before 2011, there was a long lasting conflict between Shiites and Sunni monarch. After the fall of Mubarak, Shiites and youth movements started protests demanding economic and political reforms. Neither the security forces nor the King Hamad’s cash donations were able to suppress the protests. With the help from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the protests were repressed.

Gaddafi, who ruled Libya without any opposition since 1969, was not able to control the protests although the regime used excessive force. As the fight between the regime and the rebels became more aggressive, NATO provided air support to the rebels. Gaddafi was captured and killed by the rebels. The instability continued because there were several armed militia groups among the rebels who behaved unruly.

The protests in Syria began as a reaction to the mistreatment of several teenagers who were arrested because they painted anti-government graffiti. To suppress the protests which spread across the country, the regime used excessive force. As a response, protestors took arms and peaceful protests became armed rebellions. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Syrian National Council (SNC) formed in 2011 representing the oppositions to the ruling government. Despite the involvement of international actors to restore peace in Syria, the civil war continues to this day.

Two countries, namely Tunisia and Egypt did not experience civil war after the uprisings.

The factors contributing to Tunisia’s relatively more peaceful transition from uprisings to democratization are as follows. The military did not get involved in the crisis, as was the case in some other countries. Rather, trade unions and other civil organizations played an important role in the transition process. In addition, a strong secular tradition in Tunisia prevented Islamic movements to dominate the transition process.

(pp. 231-232; “Orderly” Transition in Tunisia and Egypt During the Post-Revolutionary Process: Comparing the Transition Process of Tunisia and Egypt

The prominent political figures of Libya and Yemen defected to the protestors causing a division within the ruling regime with two opposing sides which eventually resulted in weakening of the states’ security. The rulers fell from power due to the intervention of foreign powers which resulted in state collapse. The rebels trying to seek power in both countries dragged the countries into civil war.

The foreign powers which intervened in Libya during the uprisings was in the form of NATO-led military campaign, while in Yemen it was GCC-led diplomatic efforts and pressures.

The main reason for the state collapse of Libya and Yemen was that both countries are defined as having a ‘weak state’ structure. Weak state is defined as a state that is weak in its core functions of providing security to its citizens (security gap), providing basic services to its citizens (capacity gap), and having legitimacy among its people (legitimacy gap).

Two main reasons can be given for the resilience of the Syrian and Bahraini regimes. First, both are minority regimes – ethno/religious characteristics of the ruling family/class are different from that of the majority of its population. The second reason is that both regimes receive support from foreign sponsors.

Syria has been experiencing a civil war with various fighting parties and various foreign sponsors since 2012. Armed rebels initially gained control of the countryside in the north and east of the country, but they were gradually sidelined by extremist groups such as al-Nusra and ISIL. Meanwhile, PKK-affiliated YPG gained control of certain towns in northern Syria and allied with the US in the fight against ISIL. The turning point of the war was the direct military intervention of Russia on the side of the regime in 2015. In the following years, the regime gradually recaptured much of the areas it lost to the rebels except for Idlib, which became the subject of protracted negotiations and complicated deals between Turkey and Russia. In the same period, Turkey established its safe zones in three different locations along its borders with Syria.