Globalization and Arab Spring - Research Paper Example

Module Module ID: Globalization and Arab Spring The present paper looks for estimating theimpact of the globalization process on the social establishments and political structures of the Arabian speaking countries by paying due heed to the rebellions and revolts raised by the native populations as a token of strong and unabated protest against the malpractices and atrocities committed by the despotic rulers of contemporary times. These dictators had kept their nations poor and backward through their political strategies by denying the participation of the masses in the political system of the respective countries in such an effective manner as it is attributed to the modern societies of Europe, Australia, USA, Canada and others. Durac (2012) is of the opinion that long-standing regime of Ali Abdullah al-Salih of Yemen represented a classic case of authoritarian upgrading. The Yemen’s political system masked the extent to which the president exerted control through a network of informal alliances and, in recent years, external support and patronage. Hence, foreign intervention in the affairs of the country as well as their exclusion from the political activities in an effective way antagonized the Yemeni masses. The main aim behind the denial of the political rights of the masses was the fear of imminent revolt against the political policies, which had confined the power and control to few hands only in the Arab states. Nevertheless, the revolutions grew out of the ashes like phoenix of exploitations and suppressions to challenge the cruel dictatorial political systems with the help of unity, integrity and steadfastness demonstrated by the Arab subjects while combating with the despotism. Revolutionary developments in IT and communications sectors and the establishment of social media including linkedin.com, twitter.com and facebook.com etc also made valuable contributions in projecting and promoting the voice of these people through their platform and conveying their message to all corners of globe. The same happened in Tunisia, where the masses triggered by the suicide of an unemployed man, clearly suddenly where tired of the stagnation, corruption in the failing regime, and dared to rebel, especially because they knew that their messages and videos, uploaded to YouTube, which could be seen abroad and the worldwide media among others (Till, 2011). Consequently, the elements of globalization turned out to be decisive in inflicting a final blow to the cruel political systems prevailing in the Arab world. Social media, Mayfield (2008) asserts, could be stated as a group of new kinds of online media, which share the characteristics including participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness, and brings the like-minded people closer to one another through its platform. Before embarking upon the topic under analysis, it would be advisable to define and discuss globalization and its impact on the Arab spring in a precise way, which is as following. The term globalization simply concentrates upon the expansion of multiculturalism in the wake of tremendous technological advancements that have paved the way towards fast communication processes between the individuals and nations belonging to the pole-apart regions of the globe. In other words, globalization stands for the interconnectedness of the people at global scale through the sharing of technological equipments, corporate activities, cultural traits, social norms, political systems, religious values, traditional rituals and conventions at large. The term globalization, according to Brainpan, is not confined to few financial and industrial cooperation pacts between the nations; rather, the term refers to the integration of economies of the world through uninhibited trade and financial flows, as also through mutual exchange of technology and knowledge (Goyal, 2006:168). While expected by the political analysts one day or the other, the rebellions in Arab states were somewhat horrendous for the world at large, which could not anticipate any dauntlessness move from the oppressed and suppressed subjects had been leading a miserable and pathetic life under the longstanding dictatorial regimes. Recent upheavals in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya, according to Hoover (2011), have caught many by surprise as the order of things has proven protean in a way that official experts and conventional wisdom were largely blind to. Consequently, the dictators did not take it too seriously. On the contrary, they were determined to crush the revolts launched by their subjects against their purported powerful regimes with an iron hand. Nevertheless, the tables were turned against them, and the Arab zone witnessed the overthrow of the strong political leadership that had successfully ruled over the people for the last many decades. The political experts and analysts articulate divergent theories behind the upsurge against dictatorial governments. Rozoff (2012) is of the opinion that conflict and state of mistrust between the people and the government made developments towards a revolution. Even worse, political corruption and a slow economic pace in certain Arab countries made it even harder for the people’s expectations to be met. However, some of the analysts declare it as the outcome of the awareness globalization has brought in them in its wake. while some of the theorists argue that change is the order of the day, and the freedom and liberty make their way in every country sooner or later, as it took place in France, Russia, Iran and India. It seems, McKay (2012) witnesses, that modern technology played a part in this as social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter enabled the flames of discontent to be fanned and spread the news to an observing world. Another school of thought considers is the part of the same US campaign has been launched in order to capture the natural resources of the poor and weak states of the world. The globalization process has provided the individuals with the immense opportunities of growth and development through wide-ranged traveling from one region of the world to others in search of superior employment, education, health and business perspectives as well as for amusement and recreational activities and pursuits; consequently, the people from downtrodden and backward third world countries have found their sure headway in respect of penetrating into the advanced cultures and civilizations of the world, and to have knowledge about the policies, benefits and privileges being offered by the political systems of these societies of their subjects. Globalization, Suarez-Orozco & Qin-Hilliard (2004) observe, have encouraged the people belonging to the divergent ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious and cultural backgrounds to proceed to the developed nations for the time being as well as on permanent basis for leading a comfortable and respectable life as the citizens of the advanced, cultured and freedom-loving societies. Since these individuals have witnessed the joys of a luxurious lifestyle, they long for improvements and reforms in their native lands had been victim of malpractices, nepotism, corruption, favoritism and socioeconomic and political instability. As a result, they are determined to enjoy the same prosperity and privileges they have found during their stay in the advanced nations through the elimination of dictatorial state of government by converting it to a reformative democratic system elected and run by the representatives of the masses. It is particularly applied to the Arab nations scattered in the Middle East and Africa, which have experienced quite unpredicted and unexpected upsurge by revolting against the political authorities and inflicting a formidable blow to the age-old and rusted dictatorial political systems. Started from the African state of Tunisia in December 2010, the Arab spring immediately took various countries under its sway by putting the law and order situation of these countries into jeopardy. Some of the international relations theorists find almost the same causes behind these revolts taken place in different Arab countries. They are of the view that the rebellions find their roots in the same political situation, and it was actually the reaction of tyrannical rule imposed upon the hapless people for the last several decades in the sacred name of religion. Anderson (2011) seeks the possibility of foreign intervention behind the upsurge in the Arab zone. She is of the opinion that the big powers had played the same game with Egypt, Tunisia and Libya in the aftermath of WWI in 1919, where these countries, once the part of Ottoman dominion, were instigated to raise revolt against Turkey in the name of justice, equality and democratic rule; somehow, the same powers played decisive role in the establishment of a Zionist state at the heart of the Muslim region, so that both Jews and Muslims could remain at daggers drawn against one another, and could not be in a position to challenge the USA and UK by dint of their economy, natural resources and demographic strength eventually. Anderson (2011) submits to state that the recently instigated Arab revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya do not reflect impact of globalization or technological advancements altogether. On the contrary, all these political developments carry some hidden agenda determined to bring these countries under the US subjugation in one way or the other. It is therefore the despotic Saudi government still escapes any possibility of upsurge even it is viewed as the most condemnable one in respect of keeping the masses away from the political affairs altogether, and has been displaying tyranny on its subjects for several decades. However, since the cruel and atrocious Saudi royalty has enjoyed the favors of the big powers, the chances of rebellion in the country appear to be bleak for the future years to come. To conclude, it becomes crystal clear that globalization and its elements, including social media, IT revolution and fast immigration phenomenon, has influenced the minds of the Arab people to such a great extent and has turned out to be supportive in respect of awakening them to make demands for the just freedom of thought and action, as well as human rights acquisition in the same manner the people of modern countries enjoy themselves with. Somehow, the role of foreign intervention and interference in these civil rights movements cannot be ignored and denied altogether. The international actors belonging to the powerful states secretly penetrate into the affairs of third world countries, and take control of the social movements in order to impose their own political, social and cultural policies upon them, so that they could be kept poor, weak and dependent of the rich powers of the world (Ghosh, 2011). It is partly due to the very reality that indirect help and support from the pro-US media have caused the toppling of the anti-US governments in Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Iraq; and the pro-US despotic rulers of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and other Arab states have no fears of the same because of their strong ties with the USA. Works Cited Anderson, Lisa. Demystifying the Arab Spring Parsing the Differences Between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya Foreign Affairs -May/June 2011 Web 27 May 2012 Durac, Vincent. Yemen’s Arab Spring – Democratic Opening or Regime Maintenance? BRISMES Annual Conference 2012 Revolution and Revolt: Understanding the Forms and Causes of Change 26-28 March 2012 Web 27 May 2012 Ghosh, Peu. International Relations Second Edition PHI Private Learning India 2011 Print Goyal, Krishan A. Impact of Globalization on Developing Countries International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 5 2006 Web 27 May 2012 Hoover, Joe. Egypt and the Failure of Realism 2011 Web 27 May 2012 Mayfield, Antony. What is Social Media? An E-book 2008 Web 27 May 2012 McKay, Alasdair The Arab Spring of Discontent: a collection from e-International Relations Web 27 May 2012 Rozoff, Rick. ‘Arab Spring’, Globalization and the Fragmentation of the Arab World Word Press March 14, 2012 Suarez-Orozco, Marcelo M. & Qin-Hilliard, DesIree Baollan. Globalization, Culture and Education in the New Millennium University of California Press 2004 Print Till, Jaap van. Regime Change in the ‘Arab Spring’ is a System Change February 4, 2011 Read More