Will Arab Spring Have a Negative Impact on the Middle East - Research Paper Example

?Beside Its Positive Role, Will Arab Spring Have a Negative Impact on the Middle East Table of Contents Introduction 3 Thesis ment 4 Literature Review 4 Arguments on Whether Arab Spring Can Impose Negative Impacts 7 Bloodshed Caused by Arab Spring 7 The Likelihood of Revenge Attacks 8 Security of the Ethnic and Religious Minorities 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Appendix 13 Introduction Arab Spring refers to the revolutionary protests of civilians which had recently taken place in the Middle Eastern countries, especially in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt (Anderson). The on-going phenomenon of Arab Spring is also popularly known as ‘Arab Awakening’. The revolution was instigated in Tunisia on 18th December 2010 on the basis of repeated police assault charges which were further accused to hamper the democratic interests of the community. Such awareness within the Islamic community played a vital role in awakening the leaders of the Arab world such as Libya, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen. of the revolutionary acts of Arab Springs were fundamentally based on the issues such as inflation, rising food prices, unemployment, government corruption and human rights violation related issues (Naguib). Apparently, the rise of Arab Spring depicts the necessity of change in the Arabian world to mitigate its political, economic as well as social jeopardy. Contextually, similar to other revolutionary actions maneuvered by humankind since ages, the consequences of Arab Spring has also been considered under intense scrutiny all around the world. However, till date, from an overall perspective, the consequences of Arab Spring have been referred as quite favorable to the Arabian economic conditions. One of the necessary and arguably positive outcomes of Arab Spring can be identified as the political reformation of Arabian nations, with greater emphasis on their democratic rights. Furthermore, experts have often argued that Arab Spring has played a pivotal role in re-building the confidence within people to make the required changes in their social, economic as well as political conditions (Bayat 27-30). Thesis statement This discussion will be focused on evaluating the visionary contexts of Arab Spring taking into concern, the various world views regarding its impacts on the Arabian community. Research depict that the revolutionary action has indeed presented certain valuable returns towards the sustainability of the community, but it is also not without a negative approach. Based on this concern, the research question to be considered in this discussion will be focused on evaluating whether Arab Spring will impose negative impacts on the Middle East in the future period. Literature Review Historic evidences reveal repeated instances of revolutionary events maneuvered by one group of people, who are commonly explained as the sufferers of the ill-treatment practiced by the other group(s). Arab Spring is also regarded to be one of such revolutionary events of the modern day phenomenon (al-Azm). The event took place during the 2010 when a street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi committed suicide by setting fire on his body as a way to protest against the dictatorship role played by the government in Tunisia. After a few days to the death of the street vendor, protestors rapidly augmented in numbers to fight against the continuing mistreatments towards the common public by the municipal agents. Gradually, the protest began covering a larger sphere and expanded to the national level deciphering uncontrollable aggression against the then prevailing political system. Later, the cause of Arab Spring began to be related in other neighboring Arab nations engulfing the entire Middle Eastern region as a wildfire (Moaddel). It can be apparently observed with reference to the background of Arab Spring that the ultimate motive of the revolution was to ensure a healthy, prosperous and participative political environment which could boost social welfare and economic development within the Middle East region from a long run perspective. 20th century practices within the Middle Eastern political climate have often been criticized to be based on autocratic concerns following a centralized mode of decision making. This was further accused to be one of the fundamental reasons for the backwardness of the economic system in the global arena of the current day context. Hence, it can be rationally argued that through the practice of Arab Spring revolution, the protesters intended to assist the economic advancement through a just society (Morris). As stated by Ard?c, Arab Spring indeed led to various benefits within the Middle East society among which one of the most significant returns was the identification or rather reflection of the unjust practices of the political leaders within the community which further caused the revitalization and restructuring of the economic and political system with greater emphasis on democratic interests of the common public (11-14). Even though the regimes of a new political framework have not been enacted in the economic system of the nations engulfed by the revolution of Arab Spring, a process of change is witnessed to become increasingly visible which can further be expected to yield significant returns for the benefit of the entire society (Ard?c). However, the revolution of Arab Spring also gave rise to various negative aspects. For instance, the common public in Yemen, which is recognized to be a poor and deeply-divided country of the Middle East, has been experiencing intense chaotic situation that occurred due to Arab Spring since January 2011. Similar to the other parts, the protestors in Yemen grouped themselves to raise voice against the president’s autocratic rule. However, unlike other regions, the president possessed a greater influence in Yemen which obstructed the establishment of the true motives behind Arab Spring causing thousands of deaths. Notably, the day after day continued vulnerability caused during the rule of President Hadi, gave rise to a power vacuum in the eastern region of the country which was further undertaken by the Al Qaeda militants causing serious threats to the national security purpose. As a consequence, a senior Yemeni officer of the United States Embassy was killed in an attack in response to which the security sources commented that the mishap was caused by Al-Qaeda militia (The New York Times Company, “Yemen”). Again, the situation witnessed in Syria has become increasingly intolerable, especially since President Bashar Al-Assad deciphered his influence over the country to retain power through barbaric repression and savage fighting. Heavy weapons such as helicopter gunships, as well as fighter jets have been used to threaten Syrians as well as biological and chemical weapons have used by the authoritative bodies as a means of power exposure (DP-News). It is in this context that Arab Spring has been criticized on its failure to bring significant changes in the economic and political context of Syria where an incessant struggle can be witnessed between the regimes practiced by the government and the opposition upraised by the public. Similar instances can also be witnessed in the context of Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, and other smaller and economically poor regions of the Middle East (Guzansky and Heller). These facts, accumulative give rise to a perplexity as to whether the rise of Arab Spring will impose negative impacts on the Middle East nations, irrespective of the fact that its sole intention is to restructure the overall economic and political system in a more just and progressive manner (Goodwin). Arguments on Whether Arab Spring Can Impose Negative Impacts Bloodshed Caused by Arab Spring When debating upon the consequences of Arab Spring, it has often been argued that the revolutionary event has caused the bloodshed of numerous innocent people in the Middle Eastern region who have been residing in peace for generations. As a result of Arab Spring a number of power vacuums were created which were further undertaken by terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda in the case of Syria and thus caused serious threats to national security. Consequently, bloodshed was witnessed in various regions including West Bank, Gaza as well as Israel. One of the most devastating impacts had been the bloodshed in Palestine. It was during the mid of the year 2010 that protestors moved forth with the intention of conveying a peaceful but strong disapproval to the governmental regimes and simultaneously deciphering honor to Al Nakbah resulted in violent clashes with the militia groups present in the Israeli border. This resulted in severe fatalities in the Palestinian territories. It also devastated a few territories in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria throughout the border of Israel. Stating precisely, statistical review to the numbers of fatalities and violent activities during the post Arab Spring situation further reveals that significant augmentation in the frequency as well as severity of violent activities have taken place after the instigation and channelization of Arab Spring revolution in the various parts of Middle East. As can be witnessed from the statistical data obtained (refer to appendix), the violent activities have started taking place at frequent intervals in regions with higher authoritative influences, especially Gaza, West Bank and Jerusalem (Bhavnani and Donnay). The Likelihood of Revenge Attacks With reference to the causes behind Arab Spring it can be stated that the revolutionary outcome was fundamentally caused by the uncomfortable and intolerable situation arisen due to the autocratic practices of the leaders in Middle East regions. Consequently, Arab Spring has lead many protests, some of which were violent while others were deciphered through non-violent activities. Accumulatively, in various parts of the Middle East region, these unrests caused serious conflicts between the common public and the militia groups imposing greater threat of future revenge with augmented frequency of violence activities (BBC). Not only in the national grounds of Syria, but Arab Spring deliberately has encouraged protests against neighbor countries from both regional as well as international perspectives. Such consequences have already been apparently witnessed in a few of the previous instances. For instance, when Palestinian protestors demonstrated their grievance against the Israeli force at least 12 common people were killed by the militant simultaneously causing a significant number of people to be injured. Again in a repeated instance, when a large number of Palestinian as well as Syrian protesters gathered at the opposite side of Majdal Shams for protesting against the Israeli militia groups occupying the region, approximately 23 protestors were killed as well as 350 protesters were injured owing to action of the open shoot-out (BBC). Security of the Ethnic and Religious Minorities There are many diverse ethnic as well as religious groups of people such as Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Shias and Sunnis residing in Middle East region since generations. It is in this context that the uncertainty as well as insecurity has been witnessed to be increasing rapidly since the instigation of Arab Spring. For instance, during the post Arab Spring incidence, the Christian Coptic community had to witness severe fatality owing to the killing of 25 protestors in Cairo while they were complaining against the attack on a church. Additionally, the Sunnis have been predominantly living in the Arab world for a long time. Hence, as Syria has been ruled by Alawi minority which is hated by the Sunni majority, a certain threat can be witnessed to be prevailing over the community in terms of security over their religious and ethnic faiths. Studies and recent records also depicts that the minority group of Christians in the Middle East are often observed to be mistreated, particularly in Iraq which is an Islam dominated country. It is in this context that such alterations in the social sphere are being witnessed in the post Arab Spring period fundamentally owing to the increased power vacuums within the regions. Hence, to a certain extent, the residents of Middle East countries were negatively affected by the Arab Spring (Arabian Business Publishing Ltd). Conclusion Witnessing the recent day trends in the Middle East context, it can be stated that Arab Spring is partially responsible for the political and social changes that have occurred in the Arabic countries. Arab Spring has often been argued to be the revolutionary outcome against the autocratic and highly directorate governing practices of middle- east countries being highly influenced by the issues of corruption, unemployment and low standard of living. From a philosophical perspective, it is through the rise of Arab Spring that people of Arabian countries have understood the essence of revolution creating pressure on the governmental structures with the sole intention of political restructuring and economic advancements. The most effective outcome of Arab Spring has been the movement of concerned authoritative bodies towards political reformation of Middle East countries. Irrespective of its well-justified and moral concern, the recent alterations and unrest being experienced in the Middle East region depicts that Arab Spring has also imposed negative outcomes besides having positive influences. The Arab Spring results in forced relocation patterns under conflicting conditions between groups. To be summarized, the violent approach of Arab Spring has caused immense loss of life apart from hampering the confidence and security of the common public. However, it can be mentioned in this regard that as per the historic evidences, every revolutionary activity causes certain casualties in its short-run; while its long-run returns are often witnessed to bring prosperity and betterment of human life. Although an in-depth perspective to the issue depicts that Arab Spring will have certain negative impacts over the Middle Eastern lifestyle, it might also influence the aimed positive changes to bring sustainability within the region. References al-Azm, Sadek J. The Arab Spring: “Why Exactly at this Time? Reason Papers 33(2011): 223 229. Anderson, Lisa. Demystifying the Arab Spring. Foreign Affairs 3(2011): 2-7. Arabian Business Publishing Ltd. People Feel 'Unsafe' After Arab Spring. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. Ard?c, Nurullah. Understanding the ‘Arab Spring’: Justice, Dignity, Religion and International Politics. Afro Eurasian Studies, 1.1(2012): 8-52. Bayat, Asef. Life As Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East. United States: Stanford University Press. 2010. Print. BBC. Israeli Forces Open Fire At Palestinian Protesters. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. Bhavnani, Ravi. and Donnay, Karsten. Here’s Looking at You: The Arab Spring and Violence in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank. Swiss Political Science Review (2012). DP-News, UN Security Council urges more Humanitarian aid for Syria. UN Security Council. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. Goodwin, Jeff. Why We Were Surprised (Again) by the Arab Spring. Swiss Political Science Review 17.4(2011): 452–456. Guzansky, Yoel. and Heller, Mark A.. One Year of the Arab Spring: Global and Regional Implications. Memorandum No. 113. (2012) Moaddel, Mansoor. The Arab Spring and Egyptian Revolution Makers: Predictors of Participation. Population Studies Center Research Report 12-775 (2012). Morris, Kieran. The Arab Spring: The Rise of Human Security and the Fall of Dictatorship. Internet Journal of Criminology (2012). Naguib, Nefissa. Basic Ethnography at the Barricades. International J. Middle East Studies. 43 (2011): 383-390. Print. The New York Times Company. Yemen. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. Appendix Source: (Bhavnani and Donnay, “Here’s Looking at You: The Arab Spring and Violence in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank”) Read More