Arab Spring: Consequence from Egypt, Yemen and Libya - Essay Example

Arab Spring: Causes and Consequence from Egypt, Yemen and Libya The Arab spring was sparked by what majority of participants perceived as lack of democratic freedom in many aspects of their lives. Citizens of these countries had to live for decades under a leadership that subjugated their freedom of speech and undertaken widespread human rights abuses aimed at silencing any form of opposition to their regimes. The economic situation of most citizens was also a major factor in the Arab Spring as a large section of the population continued to be unemployed even with the growth of the country’s GDP. Consequently protests leading to removal of autocratic leaders in Egypt, Yemen and Libya from power were based on the quest for reforms in the countries’ political, social and economic sectors. The Arab Spring indicates the leaders were not interested in encouraging democratic principles which could have accorded the people an environment to achieve their aspirations in free society. The governments in countries such as Libya, Egypt and Yemen that experienced political turmoil had leaderships that had been in power for decades without (Murphy, 2012). In Libya, Muammar Qaddafi had been in power for over forty years establishing a government that solely depended on his ideology. The government was mainly composed Qaddafi’s family members with opposition to his rule being avoided by paying off tribal leaders to ensure continued support of his regime. Other institutions such as independent media and civil society were not given space to operate therefore making it easy for Gaddafi to consolidate power in Libya (Hakimian, 2011). In Yemen, president Saleh had been in power for over 33 years although he assumed the role as president of a unified Yemen in 1990 after unification the unification of both South and North Yemen, Saleh ruled north Yemen since the 1970’s. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak had ruled Egypt for around thirty years taking advantage of the state of emergency he had established in 1981 following the assassination of Sadat to ensure there was a weak opposition to his rule. The emergency law ensured the constitution was not effective as the Mubarak regime aimed to crush any opposition against their rule. This made it possible for the government to commit widespread atrocities against the people without any legal implication on the government as the law allowed for the indefinite detention of prisoners while other forms of rights and freedoms such as of expression and assembly were limited. Given the long years that leaders of these countries served, the people were tied of these autocratic leaderships and therefore felt there were no alternative options that would dispose. This is because effective mechanisms to hold democratic elections did not exist that would ensure the people’s aspirations are realized through the election of a leader favored by the majority of citizenry (Haider, 2011). Given the autocratic governments that existed in these countries, people did not feel the government was working towards there benefit but for the benefit of a small circle of relatives and friends who control major resources of the country. Although countries like Egypt and Libya had recorded widespread growth in their GDPs, majority of the people did not experience the benefit of economic growth as they continued to live in poverty. As a consequence of the country’s wealth being consolidated in the hands of a small group of people who surround the leadership, there was widespread unemployment that resulted in disillusionment of particularly the youth were a driving force of the Arab Spring. Hakimian (2011) indicates most of the counties that went through the Arab Spring had recorded a significant growth rate in there GDPs from 2000 to the time period the uprising commenced. According to the research, countries such as Libya, Egypt and Yemen that had been under dictatorial regimes achieved growth rates ranging from 4 to 5% every year leading to the time of the uprising. Consequently, the uprising reflects a people who were not satisfied with the perceived economic progression and were demanding greater impacts of economic growth that could be felt by all citizens and not only those who are close to the leadership. The participation by the youth in large numbers also indicates the demographic aspects of these countries’ economic situation. Hakimian (2011) indicates the difference between national unemployment figures and the youth unemployment statistics in a number of countries that experienced the Arab spring. These figures indicates the youth as a demographic group in these countries had a higher rate of unemployment where for instance in Egypt general unemployment was about 10 percent but this was 24.8 for the youth which represents people of ages fifteen to twenty eight. Therefore, failure to put in place effective policy to tackle youth unemployment is a major factor in the analysis of the causes of the Arab spring especially considering most of the countries had experienced demographic transformations that had seen dramatic increase in the number of youth population. Murphy (2012) notes of about three hundred million people in the Arab world, almost two thirds of the population represented people who were below twenty nine years old. Consequently, these governments could not have survived longer with such a large portion of the population feeling the government was not responding to their needs. Having linked the cause of Arab Spring to the existence of around two thirds of the population represented by the youth, the question then becomes; how does this group mobilize large crowds that were seen during the Arab Spring? Social media presented the most appropriate avenue for the people involved in the demonstrations to be linked. This was especially important considering the level of internet connection for countries such as Egypt which was up to 20 percent during the time of the protests. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter and YouTube was especially important for mobilization of participants since the governments found it difficult to regulate their use like they had done with the mainstream media (Murphy, 2012). Therefore, this made it possible for the participants to arrange for places and time to meet making attraction of large crowds very easy. The importance of social media to the participants in the Arab Spring should not be perceived as playing role in only the mobilization of crowds. To the contrary, social media had far greater role in the Arab Spring especially when viewed together with globalization. The role of social media in the Arab spring is also related to the creation of connectivity between the people in Arab world and the outside world. Even before the start of the Arab Spring, the youth and whole population in general had been connected with others in different countries making it possible to share views on their social and economic state. People in the Arab world were therefore given a chance to differentiate governance in their countries with the rest of the world based on narrations from those who had traveled outside their countries. Consequently people demanded a government that could provide social, political and economic environment that could be compared to the standards in foreign countries (Allagui and Kuebler, 2011). The first preoccupation of the participants in the Arab Spring was to see an end to the autocratic leadership that had been in position for decades. This goal was majorly successful in Egypt, Libya and Yemen. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak resigned from his position and left power under the military which was task with overseeing a period of transition. For Libya, Muamar Gaddafi refused to resign leading to military action against him and his army. The war between Gaddafi and forces demanding change was supported by NATO forces which boosted the chances of the revolution being a success through provision of air support. The Libyan uprising therefore ended with the death of Muamar Gaddafi who had throughout the war refused to step down claiming the war was being sponsored by the Western powers and was therefore not based on what the citizens of Libya wanted (Friel, 2012). In Yemen, the protests led to transition in power although it is president Saleh, deputy who took over power. Therefore, the main objective of removing the autocratic leaders from power can be said to be a success for these countries (Chaney, Akerlof and Blaydes, 2012). Even with the end of autocratic regimes, concern has been noted over the prospects of establishing democratic leadership that would be sustainable for a long period. These concerns have been informed by the fact that in most of the countries that the Arab Spring was successful in removing leaders from power, there has been increased participation of Islamic parties in preceding elections. In their study, Chaney, Akerlof and Blaydes (2012) explore the prospect of the Arab Spring resulting in long-term democratic change for the apprehensive countries. The authors use historical evidence based on other revolutions that had taken place over the years to predict the chances that the most recent Arab Spring that started in 2010 could present an opportunity for sustainable democracy with concern being that the Islamic parties and candidates winning elections might lead to reemergence of autocratic leadership in future (Campante & Chor, 2012). There are chances that Islamic groups that win elections will revert to autocratic leadership if there are no checks on their leadership. Consequently, Chaney, Akerlof and Blaydes (2012) argue there should be an effective mechanism to establish strong unions and other commercial interests to check the power of these groups therefore preventing the Islamic groups from changing from secular rule to autocracy. The return to autocratic rule will therefore reverse the gains achieved from the Arab Spring. Apart from the risk of falling back into autocratic rule, the long term stability of these countries is also a matter of concern by some analysts of the Arab Spring. These countries had spent a greater part of their past fifty years under the leadership of one or a small group people. This means the countries do not have the necessary institutions to sustain the gains achieved from the ouster of autocratic leaders. Autocratic leadership leads to the elimination of opposition which might be equipped to provide alternative leadership when one form of leadership fails. There is also a possibility that another group might take advantage of the leaderless revolution to assume power without being in support of the aspirations held by the people (Mazrui and Tanoukhi, 2011). The result of removal of leaders such as Hosni Mubarak and Muamar Gaddafi is that the countries lack people who will take leadership positions and maintain the relative stability that had been experienced over the years. This was seen in the case of Egypt were after the removal of Hosni Mubarak, to a Muslim brotherhood backed government under Mohamed Mursi. Although Mursi was elected through what was seen as a free and fair election, there were subsequent protests targeting his ouster with majority of people arguing that he did not follow the constitution in making a number of decisions affecting the country (BBC, 2013). However, even with the difficulties faced in ensuring stable democratic governments in countries such as Yemen, Egypt and Libya, the aspirations of the people which led to calls for reforms must be able to sustain the gains made. As seen in the case of Egypt, people will remain vigilant to ensure the country does not move back the autocratic leadership. The protests which led to removal of Mursi from power was based on what people saw as a return to autocratic leadership with the larder being accused of favoring Islamic rules based on his Islamic brotherhood membership (Bradley, 2014.). The ouster of Mursi and calls for leadership that will transform the country into one that is hinged on democratic principles therefore indicates citizens will keep their leaders accountable based on the economic, political and social decisions they make. From the foregoing, the occurrence of Arab Spring in Egypt, Yemen and Libya represents the assertiveness of the people especially when they perceived their rights and freedoms as being under threat from the autocratic leadership. The Arab spring presented citizens with a chance to remove leaders such as Muamar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak and Saleh from power which they saw as the best move that could lead to reforms in the countries. There are still concerns that the elimination of autocratic leaders from their positions will not result in sustainable democracy for the citizens in Egypt, Yemen and Libya. This is due to the fact that Islamic parties and candidates have won elections making it a possibility that they might take the countries back to autocratic leadership. However it is argued that the aspirations of the people will not be defeated as they are vigilant to ensure the new leadership reflects what they envision as the future of the country. References Allagui, I., & Kuebler, J., 2011. The Arab Spring & the Role of ICTs| Introduction. International Journal of Communication, 5, 1435–1442. BBC, 2013. Profile: Egypts Mohammed Morsi. Available from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18371427 [29 May 2014]. Bradley, M., 2014. Egyptian TV Swayed Public Against Morsi, in Favor of Sisi: News Directors Decision to Label Muslim Brotherhood Supporters Terrorists Helped Engineer Sharp Shift in Public Opinion. The Wall Street Journal [online], Available at: http://online.wsj.com/articles/egyptian-tv-swayed-public-against-morsi-in-favor-of-sisi-1401330765 Campante, F. R., & Chor, D., 2012. Why was the Arab world poised for revolution? Schooling, economic opportunities, and the Arab Spring. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 167-187. Chaney, E., Akerlof, G. A., & Blaydes, L., 2012. Democratic Change in the Arab World, Past and Present [with Comments and Discussion]. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 363-414. Friel, J., 2012. The Arab Spring and Political Change: A Comparison Of Revolutions. Master thesis, Universität der Bundeswehr München. Haider, F., 2011. The Roots Of Yemen’s Uprising: Interview With Khaled Fattah. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism [online] Available at: http://senjournal.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/the-roots-of-yemen’s-uprising-interview-with-khaled-fattah/ Hakimian, H., 2011. The Economic Prospects of the ‘Arab Spring’: A Bumpy Road Ahead. CDPR Development ViewPoint, (63), 1-2. Mazrui, A. A., & Tanoukhi, N., 2011. Arab Spring and the Future of Leadership in North Africa: an interview with Ali A. Mazrui conducted by Nirvana Tanoukhi. Transition, 106(1), 148-162. Murphy, C., 2012. The Arab Spring: The Uprising and its Significance. Trinity Magazine Available at: http://www.trinitydc.edu/magazine-2012/the-arab-spring-the-uprising-and-its significance/ Read More