Arab Spring Flashcards

1
Q

Arab Spring on the map

A

Spread from the Egypt expansionally

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2
Q

Arab Spring: Beginning

A
  • Uprisings since December 2010
  • Fruit vendor Mohammad Bouazizi set himself on fire → trigger for other states
  • Slowly expanding
  • accelerator of demonstrations: social media (+multinational TV), youths can organise easily

Causes of uprisings:

  • unsatisfaction with national politics
  • poor economic policies → poor economic condition
  • unemployment → frustration → no future
  • absence of freedom of speech and express
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3
Q

Arab Spring: Precursor

A

National self-determination since 19th century

  • Arab identity, influence of European nationalism and of Western ideologies
  • different manifestation of Arab nationalism: Pan-Arabism, Arab socialism (Baath party), particular nationalism (pan-syrianism)

First wave of Arabism around WW I:

  • 3 issues in the interwar era: Lebanon, Israel-Palestine, Iraq
  • Interwar era- low change for independence
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4
Q

Second wave of Arabism

A
  • After WW II, establishment of LAS
  • Decolonisation x bipolar world
  • Cold War in ME: USSR (Hussein, Arafat) vs. US (Tunisia, Jordan - king)
  • Support of Islamists during the Cold War → West support (Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Syria, Afgh.); similarly Israel
  • West concerned for the Arab Spring and new establishment in the ME
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5
Q

Arab Spring: After the revolutions

A
  • Arab Spring (2010-2011 or 2012) hold up the hope → as will produce democracy
  • Some observers: as parallel to E Europe demonstrations in 1989
  • Transition in democracy difficult → more often fails
  • 8 yrs after uprisings: violence, instability and uncertainty mark the politics of ME
  • Arab spring “success story”
  • Transition has not been smooth → 2012 assassination of 2 politicians ¨Coalition of society groups won the Nobel Peace prize in 2015
  • Did not allow extremism and polarization to undermine the goals
  • 2014: adoption of new Constitution election of a new parliament, new president
  • Politics remain uncertain
  • terrorist attacks → undermining the government
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6
Q

Yemen

A
  • early 2012 pres. Ali Abdullah Sales step down (22 yrs of ruling)
  • Political infighting, demonstrations, violence
  • 2014 Houthis battle the central government and seized the capital Sana’s
  • president Abd Rabun Mansur Hadi
  • Intervention of KSA, UAE, and others to stop Iranian penetration into the Arabian peninsula through Houthis allies
  • Humanitarian disaster
  • Becoming a failed state
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7
Q

Syria

A

3/2011: youth in Daraa spray painted → arrested and tortured

  • Security forces fired on demonstrators
  • Setting off a nation wide protest movement → civil war → proxy war
  • Violence and chaos → rise of the ‘Islamic state’
  • Assad regime controls the fraction of Syrian territory - assistance of Iran and Russia
  • Syrian Kurdish forces (backed by US) rolled back IS in N
  • Peace talks in Vienna, Geneva, Sochi
  • Iran, Russia for Assad x Gulf states, US, Turkey against Assad
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8
Q

Syria who controls what (2012ish):

A
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9
Q

Egypt

A

Hosni Mubarak president (1981-2011)

  • After his overthrow Egyptians have participated in 6 rounds of parliamentary elections, 3 presidential elections and 3 constitutional referendums, coup d’etat
    leader: Abdul Fatah Sisi (since 2013)
  • After military ended the presidency of Mursi
  • Insists that Egypt is on a path of democracy
  • Muslim Brotherhood considered as terrorist organization
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10
Q

Bahrain

A

2011 demonstrations in Manama

Sectarian dimension: Shia protests demanding change from Sunni that hold all the power in state

Bahrain security forces responded with heavy hand:

  • Bahrain, UAE, KSA leaders saw Iran’s hand in demonstration
  • ‘invitation’ of Bahraini leader of UAE and KSA military troops
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11
Q

Libya

A

Muammar Gaddafi (1969-2011)

  • Ruling system: through informal coalition and network of supporters under the guide what he called the direct democracy

8 months of civil war → include the establishment of NATO no-fly zone

  • Gaddafi captured and killed

Summer 2012 elections → Libya has fractured → 2 different fractions claiming to be the legitimate government

→ result: civil war and chaos

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12
Q

Middle East

A
  • Most are autocratic
  • in UAE Saudi Arabia and Oman demonstrations pulled back by the rulers
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13
Q

The messy Mosaic of actor relations in ME

A

lack of support for Al-Qaeda and ISIL

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