05 Zdanowski v04
79
The Arab Uprisings in Historical Perspective
Jerzy Zdanowski*
PL ISSN 02398818
HEMISPHERES
Vol. 29, No. 1, 2014
The Arab Uprisings in Historical Perspective
Abstract
At the turn of 2011, turbulent events occurred in the Middle East. Initially, these protests were a form of civil disobedience, but the situation later developed in several directions. In Tunisia and Egypt, the authorities finally gave in to the growing protests. In
Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritania,
Sudan and Oman, the authorities managed to convince the public that they would meet their needs. The authorities in Syria, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain took the harshest positions. In
Tunisia and Egypt free elections were conducted, and these countries have started to build a democratic system. This experiment, however, was interrupted in Egypt on July 3, 2013 by the intervention of the army. Can one assume that the Arab Spring is now a closed chapter in the history of the Middle East? This article refers to the sources of the Arab
Spring and demonstrates its importance for the future of the region.
Driving forces
The literature points to several factors that triggered these acute social protests.
The first was the new communication technologies mobile phones, the Internet, social networking sites which aroused public awareness, freed people from the dictates of government propaganda and allowed the protesters to organize properly.
Indeed, the Internet had already played an important role in mobilizing people in
2009, in the case of the so-called Green Movement in Iran. Those events were even called the Twitter Revolution. When anti-government protests broke out in 2011 in
Egypt, the world called it the Facebook Revolution, and a girl born on President
Mubaraks resignation day was named Facebook.1
New technologies have helped to share experiences by creating a network of relationships that cross borders. Such effects were usually achieved
The Arab Uprisings in Historical Perspective
Jerzy Zdanowski*
PL ISSN 02398818
HEMISPHERES
Vol. 29, No. 1, 2014
The Arab Uprisings in Historical Perspective
Abstract
At the turn of 2011, turbulent events occurred in the Middle East. Initially, these protests were a form of civil disobedience, but the situation later developed in several directions. In Tunisia and Egypt, the authorities finally gave in to the growing protests. In
Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritania,
Sudan and Oman, the authorities managed to convince the public that they would meet their needs. The authorities in Syria, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain took the harshest positions. In
Tunisia and Egypt free elections were conducted, and these countries have started to build a democratic system. This experiment, however, was interrupted in Egypt on July 3, 2013 by the intervention of the army. Can one assume that the Arab Spring is now a closed chapter in the history of the Middle East? This article refers to the sources of the Arab
Spring and demonstrates its importance for the future of the region.
Driving forces
The literature points to several factors that triggered these acute social protests.
The first was the new communication technologies mobile phones, the Internet, social networking sites which aroused public awareness, freed people from the dictates of government propaganda and allowed the protesters to organize properly.
Indeed, the Internet had already played an important role in mobilizing people in
2009, in the case of the so-called Green Movement in Iran. Those events were even called the Twitter Revolution. When anti-government protests broke out in 2011 in
Egypt, the world called it the Facebook Revolution, and a girl born on President
Mubaraks resignation day was named Facebook.1
New technologies have helped to share experiences by creating a network of relationships that cross borders. Such effects were usually achieved