Revolution in Egypt - Essay Example

Introduction The Egyptian revolution started on January 25 this year where thousands of protesters began their demands for political and economic reforms in the country. The main protests took place in Alexandria, Suez, Cairo and other major cities in the country. The protests continued for almost a month until the president Hosni Mubarak who had been in power for three decades resigned in February 11, 2011. The protests in Egypt were a continuation of waves of similar demonstrations that had stated in Tunisia and they widely spread across the Arab word in North Africa and in the Middle East (Blue, 2011). 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 region. In this case, the youth are more conscious of their rights than the past generation in the country and the wider Arabic world. These rights include access to equal employment opportunities, right to express themselves in various media, including the global social networking sites in addition to the democratic right of electing presidential candidates of their choice. Before the revolution, election of the Egyptian president was entirely at the discretion of the incumbent and President Hosni Mubarak had set clear indications of his son, Gamal Mubarak succeeding him (Blue, 2011). To the majority of the Egyptian population, this turn of events was unacceptable, having been disillusioned by massive corruption, brutality from state security agents in addition to the raising poverty levels that characterized Hosni Mubarak’s regime. This has resulted to widening of economic gap between the poor and the rich. According to Bruce (2008, p87) Egypt has been under emergency law, stretching from 1981 when the immediate former president Anwar Sadat was assassinated. The emergency law gave security organs many powers including the authority to arrest people indefinitely and censor every aspect of the Egyptian society that was deemed anti government. In addition, the emergency law suspended constitutional rights, which meant that it was illegal to hold demonstration, form political parties and engage in any form of political activism. In this case, Egypt remained a single party state, with the opposition parties such as Muslim Brotherhood being declared as illegal and militant organizations (Bruce, 2008, p94). In this regard, demand for democracy, political, economic, and constitutional reforms were the major causes of 2011 revolution in Egypt. The revolution succeeded in mobilizing virtually all segments of the population, including women and children. The non-violence approach to express their displeasure with the government through mass protests succeeded in demonstrating the excesses that security agents possessed in the country. According to Blue (2011), the Egyptian police officers responded by launching brutal operations that resulted to deaths of many innocent demonstrators. In addition, many organizers of the protests were rounded up and detained in undisclosed locations within the country. The violent response elicited anger and greater resolve by the protesters to persist in the struggle until their demands were met. Moreover, the application of social networking sites and information technology played a significant role in organization of the protests and spreading the revolutionary ideals to the world. Eventually, President Hosni Mubarak stepped down on February 11 and the transition government under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is currently working on reforming the country towards a more open and democratic society(Blue, 2011). To the Egyptians, the revolution marked the beginning of a new era, which would set the foundation of a freer and more democratic society. Although Egypt receives $ 2 billion of aid annually from the United States, Mythen (2008, pp238) noted that it has one of the widest gaps between the poor and the rich. In this case, Egyptians are hopeful that eliminating Mubarak’s government would establish ideal democracy, where the presidential term is limited and the people have the power to elect a government that is more sensitive to their concerns. In the Middle East region, the revolution in Egypt exposed the delicate peace balance that exists between Israel and the neighboring Arab countries. For long periods, Israel has used force to suppress Palestinians fighting for justice. This has resulted to stronger anti- Israel and anti- American sentiments in the Middle East, where Egypt played a crucial role in moderating the tension, ensuring short-term prevalence of peace (ECFA, 2000). The revolution in Egypt is likely to destabilize the political situation the region, by triggering revolutionary response in Middle East including Palestine. This might jeopardize the existence of Israel. The revolution in Egypt has provided the Arab world with an opportunity to develop more open and democratic societies, a major step in ensuring peace by eliminating incidents of terrorism and militancy that characterize this region. According to Amoore (2006, p339), autocracy and oppressive regimes creates inequalities in the society that result to resentment and subsequent violence. Introducing democracy in these regions would eliminate insecurity perpetrated by militant groups and introduce better governance structures that are open and transparent. In addition, the revolution demonstrated the power that the masses have in bringing desired change in a given society. Conclusion The revolution in Egypt would encourage the agitation for democracy in oppressive regimes especially in the Arab world and communists states. In Libya for instance, mass protests demanding the resignation of Muamar Gaddaffi have been ongoing in the last three months, adversely affecting the economic state of the country. Oil industry is the worst hit sector and this has caused decline in petroleum production in the country. This has resulted to increase in the global oil prices, which have increased the rate of inflation in the world. References Amoore, L. “Biometric Borders: Governing Mobilities in the War on Terror.” Political Geography 25.3(2006): pp 326-351 Blue, Nisreen. “Egypt Revolution Causes Local Impacts”. The Oracle. 21 February 2011. 3rd May 2011. Retrieved from http://www.theoracleonline.org/news/2011/02/21/egypt%E2%80%99s-revolution-causes-local-impact/ Bruce, K. Egypt after Hosni Mubarak: Liberalism, Islam and Democracy in the Arab World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. ECFA (Egyptian Council of Foreign Affairs). Egyptian American Relations. Occasional Papers. March 2000. 3 May 2011 retrieved from http://www.ecfa-egypt.org/PDF/EN/Egyptian_American_Relations.pdf Mythen, G . “Terrorism, Risk and International Security: The Perils of Asking What If?” Security Dialogue 39 .2 (2008). pp 216-231 Read More