Demonstrations in Middle East - Research Paper Example

This demonstrations, all summed up, are referred to as the Arab Spring (Lindsey, 2013). The demonstrations have shared some methods of civil resistance in nonstop campaigns involving protests, strikes, rallies and marches, as well as the efficient use of the social media so as to organize, raise awareness and effectively communicate in the face of government efforts at internet censorship and repression (Haddad, Bsheer & Abu-Rish, 2012). A majority of the Arab Spring protests have been met with brutal responses from law enforcement, as well as from counter-demonstrators and pro-government militias.

These attacks have been responded to with violence from protestors in a number of cases. A key slogan of the protestors in the Middle East has been “the people want to overthrow the regime” (Lindsey, 2013). Some critics have drawn links between the Arab Spring and the Revolutions of 1989, which swept through the Second World and Eastern Europe, in terms of their significance and scale (Lindsey, 2013). The Arab Spring caused a series of ground-breaking movements, which are exceptional in that they used social media as a useful means to spread information and enhance rebellious agendas.

This discovery needs consideration in all future literatures of revolution, as well as the notions of narrative, ideology, momentum and unifying causes (Lindsey, 2013). The Arab Spring is the first joint movement of its sort in the Middle East following the social media and internet revolutions of the late 20th and the early 21st centuries, and techniques, tactics and procedures used by resistance movements during the Arab Spring might also affect future movements (Hearns, 2012). This paper will discuss the demonstrations in the Middle East and specifically focus on how the social media helped spawn these demonstrations.

The paper will also discuss how the influential use of social media to help foster the Arab Spring will also affect future revolutionary movements. Following the latest events taking place in Syria, Iraq, Iran and other Middle East states, a significant amount of awareness has been centered on the notion of collective activism and democracy, which goes on to untangle before Western eyes across mass media (Lindsey, 2013). Also, significant has been the position of the social media, as well as digital technologies, in permitting people in areas distressed by the demonstrations, as a way for joint activism, to evade channels of state-run media.

Nine out of 10 Syrians and Iraqis responded to a survey that they used Facebook or Twitter to spread awareness and organize protests. In addition, 28% of Syrians and 29% of Iraqis from the same study said that blocking Facebook significantly disrupted and/or hindered communication (Lindsey, 2013). The power of social media on political revolution during the Middle East demonstrations has received considerable debated (Haddad, Bsheer & Abu-Rish, 2012). Some researchers have debated that digital technologies, as well as other methods of communication such as cellular phones, videos, blogs, text messages and photos, have led to the theory of a 'digital democracy' in parts of the Middle East affected by the mass demonstrations (Haddad, Bsheer & Abu-Rish, 2012).

Others have argued that so as to comprehend the role of social media during these demonstrations, it should be first be comprehended that in the context of high