Revolution in Egypt - Essay Example

Currently, similar protests are ongoing in Libya and Yemen, creating lot of political and economic uncertainty in the Arabic world. This paper expounds on the causes and the effects of Egyptian revolution in the country and in the world. Causes and effects of Egyptian revolution In the streets of Sidi Bouzid city in Tunisia, a twenty six year old university graduate, Mohamed Bouazizi set himself ablaze in late December 2010, allegedly for lack of job and harassment by the government officials for hawking groceries in the streets.

This incident sparked the now popular revolution in the Arabic countries that have for so long resisted the political changes occurring around the globe. In highly globalized world, the actions of Bouazizi elicited anger and desire for political and economic change especially among the youths across these countries, through social networking sites. Within a brief period, the Tunisian president resigned, and simultaneous protests broke out in Algeria, Albania, Libya, Mauritania and Oman. Other countries where similar protests have since spread include Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Morocco (Blue, 2011).

These protests have ultimately changed the political environment in Arabic world, resulting to resignation of presidents and implementation of economic reforms. For about three decades, Egypt demonstrated a sense of stability in the extremely politically volatile Middle East region. Since President Hosni Mubarak succeeded Anwar Sadat in 1981, the country has enjoyed cordial relations with the United States, mainly because of the critical role that Egypt plays in maintaining peace between Israel and other Arabic countries in the Middle East (ECFA, 2000).

For a president who had served for such a long period, winning with landslide victories in a series of presidential elections that had been conducted in the country since 1981, his ouster was a surprise to many political observers in the world. There are several causes of the revolution in Egypt and in other Arabic countries in general. For long periods, autocratic leadership that undermines basic human rights and liberties enjoyed in the free world characterizes political governance in most Arabic countries (Bruce, 2008, p63) Egypt is not an exception.

Historically, major revolutions across the world originate from a variety of reasons, but the main underlying factor is the gross abuse of human rights. The main causes of revolts include gross abuse of state power, whereby the state uses violence, threats and intimidation to suppress dissent, freedom of expression, association and other forms of public expressions. In most cases, the suppressed populations are at economic disadvantage, experiencing high levels of poverty and discrimination in accessing employment opportunities in the government or public service (Mythen, 2008, p19).

The causes of Egyptian revolution in 2011 originated from autocratic governance, economic problems, corruption, and revolutionary movement that had just happened in Tunisia accelerated Egyptian movement (Blue, 2011). The major concerns for the youth who played a crucial role in the revolution included lack of employment opportunities, abuse of basic human rights, including freedom of expression (Blue, 2011). According to ECFA (2000), the Egyptian government has invested in education of the youth and the country has one of the highest populations of university graduates in the