Arab Springs of Muslim Nations - Essay Example

The Middle East and North African nations have been controlled by aristocracies and monarchs since their independence for decades.

This sparked more calls for these demonstrations, mainly using popular social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook (Huang 1).
Social media sites reported an increase in the usage of their sites by protesters to mobilize the masses across the major cities in the countries. The governments in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia limited Internet access and blocked the use of social media sites, but it was too late to change anything (Huang 1). In addition, citizens of these Middle East nations are continually frustrated by some of the following issues that are ignored and feel that they need to be addressed. The first issue is to end the aristocratic governance that most of them endure for decades, and the need for more participation in the government by pushing for democratic participation, which the current regimes had been unwilling to provide.
There is a need for a better life and more freedom for the citizen in the countries. Countries such as Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan, and Egypt experience high levels of unemployment and a rise in the cost of living which the citizens find difficult. Their governments do little to address these issues forcing the population to devise other means of voicing their needs, which is through demonstrations. Because of the rule by a single party, these governments are faced with high levels of corruption and violation of the civil and human rights of the citizens. Therefore, there are many cases of police brutality towards the citizens and also a denial of service by these governments to their citizens. Moreover, this was the case in Tunisia, where a man was harassed by the police while selling his goods. He later lit himself up in front of a municipal building after being frustrated by the officials sparking a series of protests across the country and later the Middle East region (Jones 1).

The resultant effect of the Arab Spring was felt in the whole region exceptionally fast; governments began to follow the Tunisian regime followed by the Egyptian government which gave power to the military. Additionally, the other governments, on realizing the reality of the situation in the region, began radically to change their policies and constitutions. The Saudi Arabian government, after a series of protests, decided to allow more freedom to their citizens in fear that the situation might escalate (Middle East Voices 1).

Jordan, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria’s governments faced mass protests that made them allow police to use force and weapons to break these protests. This brought about larger-scale rebellions leading to the deaths of citizens that made the United Nations and the European Union impose sanctions on them. Furthermore, this made the monarchs dissolve their parliaments and cabinets, and allowed the citizens more rights to participate in their governments and formulate policies that are meant to address their living conditions. Libya was the only nation that continued to use force and refused to dissolve the government leading to the formation of rebel groups that attacked the pro-government army. This later escalated and forced the United States and NATO to carry out air strikes on Libya's government strongholds aiding in the ousting of the government (Middle East Voices 1).
Yemen, being a strong ally of the United States administration, had agreed to work with the United States and Israel in the fight against terror in the region. This allowed the United States to conduct attacks in the Middle East and set up military operations from their country. This brought a new angle in the revolts as Yemen citizens, who are mainly anti-American campaigners, intensified their protests. Most of the other governments that are also allied to the United States are faced with the same uprising beginning with Egypt (Jones 1).

The United States has been criticized for its involvement in the Middle East as it is pushing for democratic governance and is also seen to support the aristocratic governments that continue to oppress its citizens. Moreover, the United States and its allies are now faced with the dilemma of deciding which is the best action to take in this region. Their foreign policy does not allow them to neglect violations of human rights and democracy that the Middle Eastern governments are using. Yet they need these governments to stay in place as allies if they are to have control of the Middle East region (Jones 1).
The rise of the Arab Spring has brought to light those monarchs in the Middle East and governments across the world cannot ignore their citizens. The need for change and a better life for themselves will make these uprisings increase in countries where the citizens feel they are oppressed.