This post is due by Tuesday, January 14 @ midnight for full credit.
Email late posts to rwilliamsATchamplain.edu for partial credit.
Read the assigned chapters above, and then:
1. Provide 3 SPECIFIC observations about the Arab Spring you learned from EACH chapter of our book, using 2-3 sentences combining the book and your own IYOW analysis.
2. Finally, ask ONE specific question you have of the Arab Spring after completing our reading.
Read the assigned chapters above, and then:
1. Provide 3 SPECIFIC observations about the Arab Spring you learned from EACH chapter of our book, using 2-3 sentences combining the book and your own IYOW analysis.
2. Finally, ask ONE specific question you have of the Arab Spring after completing our reading.
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1. Other than a shared language, Arabs feel connected to each other through teaching of schools, poems, soap operas and movies from the region. They also share opposition to American activities in the region. (3)
2. After the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt, other Arab countries attempted to ‘buy off’ their citizens. They did this by offering social benefits, pay raises, or higher government subsidies. This can be financed through the Arabian concept of ‘rent’ (8)
3. The term Arab Spring comes from the usage of spring to describe other uprisings and liberal political trends in history. The term had been used previously to describe the attempted spread of democracy by the bush administration in 2003-2005. (32)
Chapter 2
1. “In both Tunisia and Egypt, governing parties whose initial purpose had been to connect the state with the population became hollow shells whose sole purpose was to dispense patronage.” “Each was more like a club whose board was composed of political and economic elites who divided political and economic spoils among themselves.” (38-39)
2. Although social media has played a major role in the uprising, especially in Egypt and Tunisia, it was not as powerful as news media reported. “Cyberskepts like to point out the general strike of 2008 was a failure, as have been other uprisings in which social media purportedly played a major role.” (50)
3. Islamic violence had different roles in the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. The Tunisian government repressed it’s citizens after the Islamist Party encouraged revolution in 1989. This repression lead to Human Rights Watch declaring the state on of the most repressive in the world. (59)
Chapter 3
1. Both “Yemen and Libya, corrupt, aging deposits who stifled civic and economic life lorded it over states they treated as their personal fiefdoms.” Additionally, Yemen and Libya both had heads of state that were the longest rulers in the Arab world at the time of the uprising. (67)
2. The uprisings began in Libya when people began calling for their own revolution on social media. This moved into the streets of eastern Libya where there was significantly less concentrated. Within days the uprising spread to the capital and protestors set flame to government buildings. (81)
3. The reasoning behind the violent nature of the uprising in Yemen and Libya when compared to Egypt and Tunisia is mainly on the military. The military in Egypt was committed to non-violence and when violence did occur is wasn’t associated with military. However in Yemen and Libya the military split, leaving the option to use violence in their uprising. (83)
Question?
Will the uprisings and revolution in Yemen and Libya last?
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1. there is a sense of connection between countries based on the example provided in the chapter that states "Egyptians write book, the Lebanese publish them, and the Iraqis read them". (3)
2. Based on the state of the economy in the arab world it is difficult to form a generalization that works for every country. The difference between countries that are better off than others economically is based on the premise that some countries export oil and others do not. (10)
3. After the uprising began in Tunisia, various other political movements were occurring throughout the middle east, Europe, Great Britain and the United States. During this time " ruling parties in the UK, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Iceland" were voted out of power. the Italian prime minister resigned on the basis of parliamentary rebellion, and the United States elections replaced a republican president with a democrat and vice-versa in congress. (24)
Chapter 2
1. The appearance on the outside between Tunisia and Egypt would not seem as if the two countries have anything in common. Surprisingly they do, a number of key characteristics are shared between the two countries. "First, 98 percent of the population in Tunisia are Sunni Arab and this holds true for 90 percent of the population in Egypt". "Tunisia and Egypt also share a history of state building that goes back to the nine-teeth century".(34,35,36)
2. Corruption in Tunisia and Egypt happen so often that its become part of the economic system. (40)
3. Social media played a large enough role in the uprisings, for some of the events that occurred to be named after the websites themselves, "Twitter Revolution, and the Facebook Revolution." (50)
Chapter 3
1. Political systems in Libya and Yemen were similar to one another based on the fact that each of the heads of state, held their seat as heads of states for the longest period of time in the Arab world. (67)
2. Yemen and Libya are considered to be weak states based on three criteria. "First, being a territory. Second, is a functioning government and bureaucracy that rules over the entirety of the territory. Third, is a national identity."(73-74)
3. R2P, as was also discussed in Human Rights class fall 2013 was established by the UN security Council making it known as an international norm for people to have the "responsibility to protect" (88)
Chapter One: A Revolutionary Wave?
ReplyDelete1) " In 2000, the Regional Bureau for Arab States of the United Nations Development Programme commissioned a group of scholars and policy makers to assess the state of human development in the Arab world. It published the first Arab Human Development report in 2002..." (p. 4) The report cited incidents of poor governance and debilitating conditions for any political or educational institutions to thrive causing human rights to be stripped away and depleted. Overall the report stated that ". . . not one Arab state provided a high 'standard of human welfare'. . ." (p. 6)
2) The concept of "rentier states." (p. 7) Income acquired by states from sources other than taxation, which is then distributed to favored clients and projects. This concept allows the state to "buy off dissent" and provide "benefits for compliance," creating a unique bond between the various institutions and the population.
3) The demographics of a younger population helped aid the Uprisings. "Approximately 60% of the population of the Arab world is under the age of thirty. . ." (p. 19) The high levels of youth is contributed to the economic success previously seen by the oil industry, creating a higher standard of living. With decreasing conditions and economic stability the youth rebelled.
Chapter Two: The Beginning: Tunisia and Egypt
1) "Egypt is the Arab world's most populous country, with an official population of 81 million and an estimated population of up to 100 million. . ." (p. 34) The number varies because not all families register the birth of their sons. I had no idea that Egypt was the most populous, I would have assumed Saudi Arabia or Sudan due to their geographical size but then I think of the terrain and it makes sense. Then that Tunisia a nation six times smaller has a population if 10.5 million.
2) In Egypt their president Mubarak accumulated 2-3 billion dollars, estimated by the U.S. However, the people exaggerated the figure to be 70 billion dollars. (p.41) To further the corruption many of the other key player in Egypt's Political and business world were all "close friends" of the ruling party.
3) Social media was the key player in creating unity for the Arab world uprising. Contributing to what is known as the "Facebook Revolution." (p. 50) With the wide spread use of social media, the government had been overwhelmed and unable to react in a timely manner. There are skeptics as to how much social media influenced the uprising, but there is no doubt that it still played a part in the communication globally.
*side note* (p.63) People fled Tunisia to Italian Island, in fear of a counter revolution.
Chapter Three: Uprisings in Weak States: Yemen and Libya
ReplyDelete1) Libya and Yemen both had ". . .the longest ruling head of state in the Arab world during the time of the uprisings. . ." ( p. 67) Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen and Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya.* How/why did they stay in power longer than other Arab nations head of states? This is considering the rest of the chapter, I'm not sure what makes them that much different than the other Arab nations/ powers in play.
2) (p. 83) The violent factors of the uprisings is mainly contributed to both Yemen and Libya's "tribal character." The "tribal character" combined with the bewilderment of their respective governments as well as the success of previous riots and raids caused a chaotic energy. Also that Yemen has the most heavily armed population in the Arab world.
3) (p. 85-86) Intervention in Yemen was an interest to both Saudi Arabia and the United States for two very different reasons. Saudi Arabia wanted the keep them weak to not pose a threat and the U.S. found them to be a key player in the war on terror.
4) Saudi Arabia forced out al Qaedists after 9/11 and they were forced to flea into Yemen. Also that Yemen is the ancestral home of the bin Laden family. (p. 89)
*side note* I was not familiar with Yemen and Libya's details and individual history in regards to the Arab Uprisings, so virtually most of the chapter was very new to me.
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1. Despite it being called the Arab world, it is not so clearly definable by just one world. There are many different branches of religion and social status within Arab societies.
2)The sense of shared history and the way Egypt captured the imaginations of many people help to unify the members of the Arab world.Like in the USA the shows made in one state are watched by people across the entire region and enjoyed." Egyptians write the books, Lebanese publish them, and Iraqi's read them."(3)
3) The Arab people have expressed widespread objections to our actions in Iraq.They want us to leave them alone. (3)
Chapter 2
1. Egypt is the most populace Arab nation with 80 million official citizens and an estimated 100 million citizens. Apparently they enforce Conscription. I didn’t know Egypt was the most populace Nation in the Arab world. I also didn’t know Egypt had Conscription in place. I thought Saudi Arabia would have been the most populous, or Israel.
2. I think it’s interesting that Tunisia is more than 80% middle class. (34) That must make for an interesting way of life. The fact that it’s more urbanized than Egypt is a surprise as well. With how famous Egypt is worldwide I would have expected Egypt to be a more modern and urbanized place.
3. “98% of the population of Tunisia is Sunni Arab” The fact that they are Muslim isn’t too surprising to me but what is surprising is the fact that it’s 98% of the population. Pretty much everyone there believes in the same religion that must be an interesting sight. While in the US there’s more diversity, there must be some kind of comfort in knowing that everyone around you feels the same way or believes in the same religion.
Chapter 3
1. Saleh made a huge mistake in trying to shove all of his best men to the side to make way for his son to rule. They abandoned him and joined the opposition when he needed them the most. His son was the Commander of the Republican Guard. His son wasn’t the only one to benefit from the corruption of the government. Their friends and family members were all in on it.
2. The corruption in Yemen was so deep that it seeped out of the government and into the every day people.With all of their relatives in high power positions it is very unlikely that anything will slip through the cracks. Relatives will provide information, kickbacks, and other benefits for their place of power. The leader will always know what’s going on. I think that’s a pretty efficient way to run things, as long as the members you choose are competent.
3. I had no idea that Yemen was the homeland of the Bin Laden family, and that Saudi Arabia kicked all of the Al-Qaeda members after 9/11. (89) That’s surprising to me because I thought they were supposed to be hard to track and deal with. Saudi Arabia seemed to handle that fine by the looks of things.
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1.) “It is important to differentiate between, on the one hand, what might be called an ‘imagined Arab community’ that exists in the heads of those who identify themselves as Arab and, on the other, Arab nationalism. Just because people might identify themselves as Arab does not mean they necessarily want to renounce their Egyptian or Lebanese citizenship” (3).
2.) In the US most college graduates are able to find jobs within a year of graduating. In the Arab world, especially in Syria, it takes a college graduate at least four years before they find employment. Due to the lack of employment for young people in the Arab world, youths are known to “wait for (good) jobs, wait for marriage and intimacy, and wait for full participation in their societies” (20).
3.) “Unilateral attempts by regimes to renegotiate ruling bargains, demographic challenges, a food crisis, and brittleness made autocracies in the Arab world vulnerable, but they did not cause the uprisings. To attribute the uprisings to these factors or to any others overlooks a key variable – the human element” (25). As in the case of any uprising against an authority figure or government, there is always a human element involved.
Chapter 2
1.) Before the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt corruption was big. The people of these countries were used to dealing with policemen and civil servants with their hands “because salaries are low, bribery is effectively written into the economic system.” However, during the uprisings protesters took their rage out on the corruption. The privatization of government owned assets is what fed the corruption in Tunisia and Egypt. (40)
2.) There is a debate about the importance that social media played in the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. There are two opposing “camps” that played a role; one that is made up of cyberphiles and the other is cyberskeptics. Due to the rapid spread of social media, the government was overwhelmed with the ability to respond effectively. (50)
3.) Both the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt had ordered their armies to fire upon the protesters in hopes to bring it to an end. However, this was not the case; neither armies opened fired, instead they refused to put a stop to the uprisings. In Tunisia, the chief of staff of the armed forces told his army to not fire on protesters. This in turn forced Ben Ali to flee from Tunisia. Egypt took it a step further and staged a coup d’état and deposed Mubarak and took over the government. (60)
Chapter 3
1.) Yemen and Libya are said to be weak states due to lacking three key characteristics. Political scientists say that a “normal” state needs to have a territory, a functioning government and bureaucracy that rules over the entirety of the territory, and a national identity. The only reason that Yemen and Libya are able to survive as weak states is one, international law and international institutions that guarantee their authority over its territory. The other reason being they are able to adopt a common set of strategies that ensure their survival. (73-74)
2.) Western media has been known to focus a great deal on the tribal system in Yemen and Libya. However, much of the coverage done by the media is ill-informed. To westerners, the common view on tribes in the Arab world is that they are exotic and archaic institutions. This is not the case however; both Saleh and Qaddafi portrayed tribes as the “time-tested and fundamental building blocks” for their societies. They did this in order to legitimate their method of rule. (77)
3.) Salafism is a method in which some Muslims use to get at religious truth. “All Sunni Islamists are salafis, although not all salafis are politically inclined Islamists, and it is the rare salafi or even Islamist who agrees with al-Qaeda’s idiosyncratic message and tactics.” Not all those who are Islamist are a part of al-Qaeda. (89)
Question?
Will governments of the Arab world and their peoples ever be able to get along?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChapter One
ReplyDelete1. Arabs feel connected to each other in several ways. One being a shared language. The other being through a sense of shared history and experiences that school systems and intellectuals encourage.
2. The government in the Arab community is very much behind that of other countries. “This freedom deficit undermines human development and is one of the most painful manifestations of lagging political development. (page 4)
3. College graduates in Egypt rank highest among the unemployed. The lack of unemployment gave rise to a phenomenon called Wait hood. People get married etc. when they are older, when they can afford to raise a family. (page 20)
Chapter Two
1. Corruption was very high among the wealthy in Egypt and Tunisia. Partly “because salaries are low, bribery is effectively written into the economic system” Corruption was bred by privatization, among other things. (40-41)
2. Some aspects of the Tunisian uprising can be seen in that of the uprising in Egypt. For example, “the way in which the uprising fed of spontaneity, its leaderlessness, its rapid spread, and its nonreligious and largely nonviolent orientation.” Page 44
3. Social media websites like Twitter and Facebook were used so much covering the uprisings, they got names like “Twitter Revolution”, and “Facebook Revolution” (page 50). There were two opposing sides in regard to how important social media was in the uprisings, made up of cyberphiles, and cyberskeptics.
Chapter Three
1. Both Yemen and Libya had rulers that were two fo the three ongest ruling heads of state in the Arab world, at the time of the uprisings. Those being Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, and Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya. (page 67)
2. Both Yemen and Libya are “weak states” They survive because international law and international institutions guarantee their authority over a given territory, and second, weak states adopt a common a set of strategies to ensure their survival, including winning the support of society’s elite, creating sham democratic institutions etc.
3. The uprisings in Yemen started with, “The Pink Revolution” or Joint Meeting Party protested Mubarak’s resignation on Feb 11th, after he promised to create a fund to employ university graduates and to increase wages, among other initiatives.
Why did the uprisings spread to Egypt?
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete• Most of the Arab governments are totalitarian the governments were taking away all the rights of people did not have homes, money food etc. that's right because they try to take off most of them rights while the people Preoccupied them the people find another way to life in safe area.(7-8)
• The number of people in Arab world is one of the big reasons to make them vulnerable to uprisings in countries which happened uprisings have happened. For, example, the percentage of people who are under 25 years old in north Africa like in Egypt 30 percent , in Tunisia, 29 percent , 34 percent in Libya and 32 percent in Algeria have no opportunity to work because the number of jobs are not that much That's mean most of them are jobless. (19-20)
• “Arab Spring” This term became the most famous term in the last few years because it is making huge change in more than five countries in the politically hot area in the Middle East. This phrase mean renewal and the first time this phrase showed up in 2003- 2005 by American government spread of democracy after series of changes happened in some countries like Saudi Arabia , Kuwait ,Lebanon ,Iraq ,Egypt etc.(30)
• Chapter 2
• There are three groups of leaders that led the Egyptian uprising in Cairo to be successful. First , the group of people who was in Tahrir Square on 25 Jan. Second, the group the ad hoc assem- blage of groups and some small groups that's come to gather in Tahrir Square on 28 Jan. Third, some groups comprised of like Muslim Brotherhood, opposition parties such as Kefaya and established politicians.(50)
• One of the interesting the points for me was the role of labor and have it the played a great part of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunis and the unions joined political activism in last few years, that mean the uprisings are becoming more effective Egypt and Tunis.(53)
• The technology always wins, because the main reason to control, spread and organized all Arab revolutions was social media like Facebook, twitter.(49)
Chapter 3
• Yemen and Libya are different because both of them consist of tribes. As a result, those tribes played one of the biggest part of change uprisings in those countries. Most of these tribes are bound together they are related through family and kinship and became now one of the strongest political parties.(77)
• There were a lot of people died in Libya during the revolution for many reasons but the main reasons for that were the differences with the tribe and Qaddafi was crazy that's mean mostly uprisings in Yemen and Libya turn violent.(80)
• There are several reasons to show up the al-Qaeda showed up in Yemen like it the pressure put on al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government encourages them during spread “salafism.” and the location is very strategic. (82)
Is Egypt like Tunis after uprising? why?
Journal Entry One
ReplyDelete-Shawn Carter
Chapter One:
1. The entire concept of rent in Arab countries fascinates me. The concept of “renter states and “allocation states” changes the viewpoint of how the economy of the middle east. This concept is the reason dictatorships to thrive throughout the Arab World.
2.Another thing that I found interesting was the quote of “Egyptians write books, Lebanese publish them, and Iraqis read them”. It shows just how interconnected Arab Nations are with one another.
3. I did not know about the split, the differences and sects there were of muslims. I kinda knew that the Suuni are the majority while shiites were in the minority. I did not know that they had split off because they had a different take on how their prophet died.
Chapter Two
1.In both Tunsia and Egypt the military did not fire upon protesters, but instead shielded them from the government hired thugs. This was interesting because just by reading you could see there was no love lost between the two and that the soldiers in both armies decided to spare their friends and family and not support a corrupt government.
2. I did not know what Neoliberalism was and that Egypt was one of the first Arab countries to practice it.
3. The idea that no one predicted that the uprising would go the direction it did is fascinating. Since the first two had failed to take some kind of hold. It is the fact that the merchant who decided to burn himself after being mistreated by a police officer in Tunsia did the population decide to become a force to be reckoned with.
Chapter 3.
1. The concept of weak state makes a tremendous amount of sense when it comes Libya and Yemen. Their governments were not as intertwined as the Tunsia and Egypt governments. I can understand why Yemen and Libya countries turned to violence to solve their problems.
2.It is interesting that all the previous leaders at one point were military leaders or had a strong background in it.
3.I did not realize just how crazy and megalomanic Qaddafi was as a leader. How he tore down all the governments infrastructure and created his own shoddy and corrupted versions. It is a wonder why his entire government turned on him when things turned south.
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete• The phrase Arab World refers to the language, the cultural world in which it inhabits of the region, and the how those who identify with that cultural world live. Most inhabitants of the Arab World are Arab Speaking Muslims. The two branches being Sunni and Shiite, which have their own set of rituals, beliefs, and traditions.
• On a scale measuring the quality of political and social life not one Arab state provided a high standard of human welfare. (6) Only about 8.9 percant live a medium standard of human welfare leaving 91.1 percent living poorly. This was on the eve of the uprising, which shed some serious light as to why this may have happened.
• It is pretty difficult to generalize the economic situation in the Arab World. This is because there is a significant difference between the people whose income comes from oil (wealthy) and those whose source of income isn’t from oil tend to be on the poorer side.
Chapter 2
• Egypt has a much greater population than Tunisia it is hard to compare them as both Arab Countries. This being said Tunisia’s people tend to be much wealthier than the people of Egypt being that almost 80% of Tunisians are considered the middle class by the world bank as opposed to Egypt where 40% of people live on less than $2 a day. The main thing they have in common is the majority of people are Sunni.
• The corruption going on in Tunisia and Egypt are so extreme its absurd. A main factor being the salaries of police men being so low that bribery is very effective when dealing with them. One of the stories that sounds completely ridiculous to me is the story of the two kids on page 41 who stole a yacht from a French business man and repainted to try to avoid detection.
• Some argue otherwise but a lot of the Arab spring can be blamed to Facebook and Twitter. Then came Wikileaks which did an excellent job leaking corruption that was going on to the American people. Some people argue that social media wasn’t the real reason for the uprisings but whose to really say.
Chapter 3
• Four factors have significantly contributed to state weakness in Libya and Yemen. One being geography being that Libya is mostly desert and Yemen being a lot of isolated villages separated by mountains, deserts, and canons this makes controlling the state hard. This makes sense because it is hard to control the people you can’t easily get to.
• A second factor is the history of the two countries. They both have a strong history of separating and not being unified as a whole country. Also choices made by leaders are a weakness they are facing. A lot of the governing people there seemed to be uneducated and corrupt.
• The final weakness they have is their reliance on oil as a main source of revenue. In Yemen about 75% of revenue is the state is from oil and about 95% in Libya. This seems to be good for those who are in the oil business but those who aren’t are living in poverty more often than not.
Was social media really to blame or were these uprisings simply inevitable?
Chapter 1: A Revolutionary Wave?
ReplyDelete1. The Arab Human Development Report in 2002 states that there is a substantial lag between Arab countries and other regions in terms of participatory governance. This freedom deficit undermines human development and is one of the most painful manifestations of lagging political development (4). On a scale of measuring the quality of political and social life, not one Arab state provided a high “standard of human welfare” to its population (6).
2. In the wake of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and unrest at home, other states in the Arab world attempted to bribe their populations by offering them social benefits, pay raises, or higher government subsidies on basic commodities in order to buy social peace (8). This proves that governments knew that they were not treating their people fairly and were fearful that uprisings could occur in their home state and lead to chaos.
3. Political Institutions are weak and the lines separating the ruler, the ruling party, and ruling institutions are often blurred if they even exist at all in the Arab world. Popular representatives cannot be turned out of office because there are no popular representatives. This is why populations throughout the region have taken to the streets as their first option of protest (24).
Chapter 2: The Beginning
1. The inhabitants of both Tunisia and Egypt are used to dealing with policemen and civil servants with their hands out because salaries are low. During the uprisings, protesters vented their rage on corruption at the top. Privatization of government owned assets fed corruption. Those who had connections with the higher up were most successful in acquiring public enterprises (40).
2. The tactic of peaceful resistance was a logical one: protesters could not come close to matching the government in firepower, unarmed protestors were less provocative than armed protestors, and violence has proved to be ineffective in the past. Egyptians saw the success of groups committed to nonviolence in Tunisia and decided to try it for themselves (54).
3. Very interesting that the armies in Tunisia and Egypt refused to put down the uprisings. These militaries are very different from one another. Tunisia’s military is small and not so well connected with the government whereas Egypt’s military is huge and has been financed by the Egyptian military. Both militaries seemed perfectly fine seeing their countries leaders out of the country (61, 62).
Chapter 3: Uprising In Weak States
1. Four factors contributed to state weakness in Yemen and Libya. First is geography. Landscapes are hard to control and in Libya the major population centers are far from one another. There is poor institutional development. Choices made by their leaders have also hurt the country as a whole. Corruption is a deliberate attempt to incorporate family, friends, and potential rivals into the system to make them stakeholders. The last factor that has allowed these states to survive is oil. Most of the revenue is contributed to oil (74-76).
2. Uprisings in Yemen and Libya turned violent which was different from the previous two uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Yemen has the most heavily armed population in the Arab world which is a reason why the uprisings turned violent. Rather than keeping the peace, militaries and a variety of other armed groups divided into loyalist and opposition camps. The weakness of the two states and the fragmentation of the army translated into the violence (83, 84).
3. The United States has viewed Yemen as a vital partner in the battle against terrorism. The United States has been financing and training Yemen’s counterterrorism forces because of the strong presence Al-Qaeda has in Yemen. The United States urged for a compromise between Saleh and the opposition when the protests did not stop because of the relation the United States had built with Saleh’s counterterrorism force (86).
Question: What can be done to prevent the corruption in the Arab world’s governments?
Chapter 1
ReplyDeleteEarly on in the reading, the text portrays many of the Arab states’ governments as being almost totalitarian, with censorship, dynastic rule, barring the formation of political parties, and in multiple countries, states of emergency “Overall, on a scale measuring the quality of political and social life, not one Arab state provided a ‘high standard of human welfare’ to its population” (6). These policies have removed judicial rights to the citizens of those Arab states and turned them into police states. As uprising spread from country to country in the Arab world inspired by the previous countries’ accomplishments, I can’t help but wonder if the idea of revolution will spread to countries outside of the Arab region, like China and North Korea for example. The revolutions are being spread primarily through media outlets, so there is a chance that across the world will hear about them.
While experts in the past were unable to determine precisely why authoritarian governments are so common in Arab countries, there are now a couple of key ideas reasoning with this question. Originally, it was believed that Islam and patriarchy in the region were the causes of authoritarian Arab governments. It is now believed that control over resources and American foreign policy are the causes of authoritarian rule. Many of the Arab countries are “rentier” states, meaning they rely on getting their income in ways other than taxation; exportation of resources, for example. With America having key interests in Arabian oil, it allows us to support a leader in order to obtain the oil. We help finance and keep cooperative leaders in power in order to maintain the access to oil.
The struggles of the protests call for democracy and human rights, which brings up what was discussed in my Human Rights class last semester. Are human rights universal, and how would they be enforced across the Arab region once they’re introduced?
Chapter 2
While Egypt and Tunisia differ in many ways, mostly economic, they are very similar social culture; they are both vastly Sunni Muslims. An interesting note I saw was that many Egyptian families opt out of registering their male children because of conscription.
Widespread media helped protesters in Tunisia spread the word to fellow countrymen, and helped Egyptians hear about it and spread the idea of revolt throughout the country. Despite both governments’ efforts to stop the revolutions by cutting off social media, it ended up being more like a hydra; cut off one head, more grow back in its place.
Protesters learned from past uprisings and took overall peaceful approaches to their protesting. Collaboration between Tunisians and Egyptians with non -violent protests met successful results in the past.
Chapter 3
The weaker states like Yemen and Libya were easy targets for their rulers to take control for decades at a time and rule with despotism. Sound like North Korea, anybody?
“Normal states exhibit three characteristics: a territory, a functioning government and bureaucracy, and national identity” (73). Both Libya and Yemen lacked the second one, which permitted one person to have all the power; in the US, our checks and balances currently ensure our status as a strong state.
The primary way weak states survive is by having the social elite on their side, or I should say, in their pocket.
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1 It is sad that the idea of Arab people is starting to fade. Even though I believe it is completely reasonable for citizens to want to identify with the states they reside in, it is somewhat depressing to think that not that long ago there was an Arab community.
2 I thought that in America welfare was questionable. However, after looking at the statistics, the idea that 91 percent of the Arab community that need welfare only receive a low standard of care.
3 I never really thought about how religion was truly practiced in the Middle East. From what I had observed all these years, the countries that represented the Middle East (to me) always seemed harsh, especially when it came to religion. Now I see that not everyone follows Islam or their chosen religion to the t and that it is acceptable to do so in most Middle Eastern nations.
Chapter 2
1 The idea behind Arab Spring is not something I would say I’m not unfamiliar with. The huge difference between rich and poor in this country is criminal and should never have been allowed to endure. However, in places like Egypt, I am honestly surprised an uprising didn’t happen sooner, when the average income is not even $100/month, while that 1 or 2 percent can lavish themselves with overly priced flowers and dresses.
2 Even though in America it has become clear that we are being monitored and watched, I can’t imagine being in a nation where I am spied on but also live in constant fear of the people that are running my government, especially in such a fragile economic time like this where the unemployed can be used as a tool to instill fear and repress simple freedoms.
3 It seems to me that corruption right before the Arab Spring uprising was like in any other place. The wealthy bought and did what they wanted by using “privatized” military or “security.” Except here, they didn't even have the decency to try to cover it up.
Chapter 3
1 To me, it seems like Qaddafi was just like another Stalin. He had a version of communism in mind that he called “Jamahiriya.” He may have had good intentions but by simply looking at history, we can clearly see that ideas like this don’t work. This may just be the American in me talking but I disagree that an idea like his could ever bring about lasting change for the better.
2 It also seems like Qaddafi was also as paranoid as Stalin. If someone needs to be killed in order to ensure that your brand of governing will work, it can’t be that useful or persuasive of an idea. Eventually, people will realize what is going on and realize they had been screwed in the process.
3 Even though it is unfortunate that Yemen and Libya had to go through such pains in order to gain their change, I believe the lack of military resistance will untimely end in a positive revolution with changes hopefully for the better.
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1. Arab states are heavily reliant on rent as their source of revenue. Rent is defined as, “income acquired by states from sources other than taxation.” Oil is the highest source of rent for many Arab states (7).
2. During the debt crisis in 1980, the United States found a new opportunity to push for a new economic model, which was neoliberalism. Neoliberalism keeps the states involvement at a minimum, while keeping the power in the market. There were bouts of violence and displeasure when the first neoliberal policies were implemented in the Arabic states (16-17).
3. Spring has been used to describe political events in the past; however, for the spring is not a good descriptor for what happened in the Arabic states. The term spring connotes good things happening, and it also takes away focus from the people who were severely affected or influenced what happened. Also, the Arab Spring began in the winter, which confuses people when they try to pinpoint when these uprisings happened (32-33).
Chapter 2
1. Corruption was easily attained in both Tunisia and Egypt as a result of the neoliberal enterprise. In both countries those who are connected to the president effortlessly took control of public sectors, causing a monopoly, which further separates the rich from the poor (40).
2. By attributing the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings to social media, we are taking away from the true heroes in the story, the people in the streets. We are shifting focus from the people to the websites, which were a mere channel used by the people to have their message spread. Also, only 20% of Egyptians have Internet access so this argument also discriminates against the majority without means to be part of the social media aspect of the uprisings (51).
3. Nonviolence was the choice for the uprisings; because the people understood from past protests that violence didn’t get their message across. Prior to the uprisings, Muhammad Adel, from the April 6 Movement went to a weeklong training program sponsored by CANVAS. The April 6 Movement used the strategies learned from this program during the uprisings (54).
Chapter 3
1. Prior to the uprisings the leaders of Yemen and Libya were two of the three longest ruling heads among the Arab world. This resulted in subdued civil and economic life and corruption in the two countries (67).
2. Libya and Yemen are considered weak-states, and their history is a contributor to this perceived weakness. Libya and Yemen didn’t have colonial countries come in and take control, so they didn’t experience a strong central government. The two states are also young in comparison to other Arab states, making its citizens feel less nationalistic and unified (73-74).
3. United States foreign policy determined whether intervention would be taken with Libya and Yemen. The United States has no political interests with Libya, therefore they could intervene without too much thought about the consequences intervening would cause. However, Yemen is a known place for Al-Qaeda presence, and while Saleh was not a perfect leader he kept the country stable (86-87).
Question:
How has US involvement influenced the results of the uprisings?
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1. The Arab world seemed to somehow miss the wave of democracy that swept through a lot of the globe during the 80's and 90's/ This is not too much of a surprise considering the amount of corruption these countries face. In many countries, the term limits are modified by the executive branches so that there is no threat of a power shift. (4,5)
2. A lot of US foreign policy (post WWII) lent a hand to autocratic rule in the Arab world. The US saw the autocratic rule in their favor because the governments could do things that they (the US) supported and the people of the Arab countries did not. We have even gone so far as to fund a revolution that overthrew democratic rule in Syria. (8,9)
3. Youth is a big factor in the uprisings in the Arab world. The youths in the Arab world are largely unemployed, even those with college degrees, which can lead to a decent amount of civil unrest. Also this gives the people more time to notice the changes they want to see around them, coupled with the power these people have to mobilize, the Arab world has started to see a lot of call for change. (20,21)
Chapter 2
1. Tunisia was ruled by only two people from 1957 to 2011. The first president, Habib Bourguiba pushed through legislation that declared him president until his death. However, he was pushed out because of mental incompetence by Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. This leader showed promise when he first stepped in to office but soon was making changed to legislation that ensured him a long leadership stint in Tunisia. (37, 38)
2. Although some people would like you to think so, social media was not the cause of the first Arab uprisings. They certainly helped the cause a bit because of their abilities to spread messages quickly, however, the protests would have most likely occurred without the use of Facebook and Twitter.
3. The uprising in Tunisia brought about great political change: Autocratic rule was cast out and shunned, elections were staged, and the constitution was rewritten. On the other hand, the economy suffered and a lot of Tunisians fled the country in fear of poverty and/or a counter-revolution. (63,64)
Chapter 3
1. Ali Abdullah Saleh ruled the northern part of Yemen in 1978, and in 1990 when the divide in Yemen was broken, he ruled over the entire state. His rule was similar to that of other Arab autocrats and characterized with corruption, no term limits and gross economic benefits for his family and friends.
2. The Libyan uprising was sparked by the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. However, in Libya the military DID take swift and violent action against the protesters. Despite the military push, the revolution was a success and rebel groups killed Qadaffi in 2011. (81,82)
3. The overthrowing of the autocratic leaders in Yemen and Libya may lead to a divide in the countries themselves. Some postulate that the frontiers of the revolution in Yemen could cause to it breaking up again, as many people feel the merger between North and South Yemen was wrong in the first place. Also Libya, faces a possible division between the eastern and western sides, but this seems less likely now than it did right after the autocratic rule was overthrown. (91,92)
Question:
Have all these revolutions in the Arab world caused the levels of violence that are normal to cease or increase?
Chapter 1:
ReplyDelete1. Despite common assumption, Islam is not necessarily a reason for lack of democracy in the Arab world. The author points out that not all Muslims are the same when it comes to religion and that other religions such as Christianity and Judaism are not less compatible with democracy than Islam. (7)
2. The Arab uprisings ignited when a man named Muhammad Bouazizi killed himself by lighting himself on fire in front of a government building in Tunisia as a protest. I was not originally aware of this fact. (26)
3. The phrase “Arab Spring” refers to the season of springtime, despite the fact that most of the uprisings began in winter. This is because springtime is thought of a time of new, positive beginnings. (32)
Chapter 2:
1. Since 1957, there have only been two presidents of Tunisia; one ruling for 30 years and another ruling for 24 years. Egypt had three presidents since 1952, each lasting over a decade. (37)
2. After the beginning of the uprisings in Tunisia, leader Ben Ali took measures to please the protesters. This included 50,000 new jobs, parliamentary elections, and a cease to censorship on the internet. (43)
3. After the first uprisings, Ben Ali fled Tunisia which marked the first time in modern Arab history that a ruler left the country due to an uprising. To me, this signifies how much of an impact the uprisings have made and will make. (44)
Chapter 3:
1. Yemen has higher poverty than any other Arab country. The illiteracy rate is 50% and unemployment is as 35% which I found to be shockingly high. (70)
2. A change in Libya has already formed from the uprisings and will likely happen in Yemen. A change in these two states will more likely occur because of the weakness of institutions. (77)
3. The tribal system in Yemen and Libya played a big role in keeping ordinance in place of a strong government. (78)
Questions:
Are the Arab Uprisings as strong as they were in 2011? Are they stronger? Or slowing down?
ReplyDeleteIn the first chapter there was a lot of new knowledge that I learned. One idea was, 90% of profits that Arab countries have are from oil, I knew oil was big in the Middle East but I didn’t expect oil to be crucial for them. (5) Also, these countries share language among other cultures factors. (3) Lastly in this chapter I learned “spring” meant sort of a positive outcome for the uprising, but it hasn’t been accomplish, yet. (32)
In chapter two, Egypt and Tunisia were the countries that were analyzed in various aspects. I learned that both countries have a very large population for small land that they have. Also, Egypt has a population of 81 million and Tunisia has a population of 10.5 million. For such a large population corruption has erupted and become part of the culture that is tolerated by everyone. (40) Being this said in Egypt about 44% is poor or extremely poor. (34-35) I would think that this percentage would be higher from all the crisis and war that has been happening. Lastly, it was interesting to learn how the military in Egypt took over after their president was overthrown and the military actually listen to the people’s demands and took some actions. (64)
In chapter three, it focused on looking at Yemen and Libya. One important part in this chapter was seeing how Europe has a lot of interest in Libya; one being oil and two is immigration. If Libya isn’t stable Europe will be afraid of not getting oil and have multiple massive waves of immigrants heading over. (71) Another important point that I learned was the four factors that contributed to make Yemen and Libya weak. These factors were: geography, history, choices/leaders, and oil. (74) Lastly, the idea of R2P and what it means it was completely a new idea for me. R2P also stands for responsibility to protect but we really don’t see it happening in most of these countries due to violation of human rights. (88)
Are the uprisings going to expand at a global level?
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1. The idea of a rent economy at a glance seems like an okay idea because the citizens aren't being taxed, but it also allows the government to be in control of the economy. Also on page 8 when Gelvin explains the rent state as "benefits for compliance" I was left with a bad tasted in my mouth.
2. Since I can remember/been alive, the United States has always been involved with the Middle East. It is sort of baffling to think that the United States really had no policy with the Middle East until post WWII. Our relationship with the Middle East has progressed (not necessarily for the better) quickly.
3. On page 28 Gelvin cites a statistic that says, "After all, only a year before the outbreak of the Egyptian uprising just 11 percent of Egyptian youth had thought participation in government decision making was a top priority…" The Arab Spring spread very quickly and influenced most of the youth to rise up. It is remarkable to see this kind of gathering.
Chapter 2
1. The Arab Spring started in Tunisia and made its way to Egypt, so it makes sense that both of these countries had corrupt leaders that they wanted out of power. Tunisia had Ben-Ali's wife who's family committed many crimes and Egypt had Gamal Bubarak whom had "earned" 2-3 billion dollars in his ruling. (Gelvin, 42).
When I hit "publish" I think the website had timed out because the page refreshed but my comments never submitted. I started working on what I'm posting now earlier and I had it saved it on a google drive. I'll rewrite the rest tomorrow.
-Brandon
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete• The growth of the economy in Tunisia and Egypt has been far too slow to keep up with the new people entering the work force. Because of the shortage of employment opportunities for young people in the Arab world, many people that are capable of going to work have to wait several years before they get offered a job. This is called “waithood.”
• I found it surprising how the uprisings were started by Muhammad Bouazizi setting himself on fire. One person protesting the mistreatment from the government started a wave of uprisings that spread throughout the Arab would.
• One of the reasons that the authoritarian rule had lasted so long in the Arab world was because of support from the United States. The U.S. supported the authoritarian rule because it was in the United States’ economic interests to have a government capable of maintaining order so that the U.S. could continue trading oil with the Arab countries. One of the original reasons for the support of the U.S. was that only the strong governments in countries would sign peace treaties with Israel.
Chapter 2
• Both the Tunisian and Egyptian governments were extremely corrupt. Bribery of government officials was a common occurrence. The former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak gathered $2-3 billion over the course of his 29 year presidency. In addition, Mubarak gave his friends monopolies over major trades such as steel and cotton.
• A common theme of these uprisings has been that if the government retaliates upon the protesters with violence, the protesters’ opposition only grows. After the military killed 21 people in Kasserine, Tunisia protesters started demanding that the current president of Tunisia step down.
• The direct influence upon the protests that social networks provide has been overplayed by media. Only 20 percent of Egyptians have access to the internet so while there are many at the protests that were organized through social networks, they may have gone out to their friends physically to recruit them.
Chapter 3
• Yemen and Libya also suffer from corrupted governments. The president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh has been president since 1978 and announced plans in 2010 to amend the constitution of Yemen to remove the term limit. About 30 percent of the money that the government of Yemen makes from rent and taxes ends up getting distributed to members of the government and friends of Saleh. Both countries have private security forces. The security force of Libya was especially known for their brutality. In 1996 they slaughtered approximately 1200 prisoners from the Abu Salim Prision.
• A “Day of Rage” was planned for Febuary 17th, 2011 in Libya. This was a protest regarding the 1200 prisoners that the government had said “disappeared” from the Abu Salim Prision. This protest escalated to 6000 people in Benghazi and others in neighboring towns wanting to be “liberated” from the current regime.
• Yemen’s protests started with the “Pink Revolution” where the Joint Meeting Party organized called for Ali Abdullah Saleh to remove himself from presidency. Saleh agreed to the demands and said that he would not run in the next election. This dissolved the protest. On the 11th of February another protest broke out demanding that Saleh resign immediately. After the massacre of 46 protesters the government set up a cordon around Taghrayr square. Saleh was attacked with a bomb and suffered serious injuries but was able to recover. Saleh returned in September and resigned in Febuary, 2012.
How are the uprisings organized?
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1. The idea of a rent economy at a glance seems like an okay idea because the citizens aren't being taxed, but it also allows the government to be in control of the economy. Also on page 8 when Gelvin explains the rent state as "benefits for compliance" I was left with a bad tasted in my mouth. (Gelvin, 8)
2. Since I can remember/been alive, the United States has always been involved with the Middle East. It is sort of baffling to think that the United States really had no policy with the Middle East until post WWII. Our relationship with the Middle East has progressed (not necessarily for the better) quickly.
3. On page 28 Gelvin cites a statistic that says, "After all, only a year before the outbreak of the Egyptian uprising just 11 percent of Egyptian youth had thought participation in government decision making was a top priority…" The Arab Spring spread very quickly and influenced most of the youth to rise up. It is remarkable to see this kind of gathering.
Chapter 2
1. The Arab Spring started in Tunisia and made its way to Egypt, so it makes sense that both of these countries had corrupt leaders that they wanted out of power. Tunisia had Ben-Ali's wife whose family committed many crimes and Egypt had Gamal Bubarak whom had "earned" 2-3 billion dollars in his ruling. (Gelvin, 42).
2. The role of social media has been known to have a huge roll in the Arab Spring. I did not know that there were groups of “cyberskeptics” who downplayed the role of social media in the uprisings. (Gelvin, 51). I thought the concept of the events organized on social media separate the heroes from the fairweather protesters. (Gelvin, 51).
3. In both Tunisia and Egypt, the people and the army worked together. (Gelvin, 60). What is interesting about this is that Tunisia’s army and Egypt’s army are dramatically different. Tunisia’s army is small and did not get its independence from force. Egypt’s army is huge and participated in a military coup. (Gelvin, 61).
Chapter 3
1. On page 77, Gelvin talks about the importance of the Libya and Yemen being weak states. Egypt and Tunisia have both had success in their uprisings, but if revolution is to happen in Libya and Yemen it is going to happen much differently than in Egypt and Tunisia.
2. The uprisings in Libya and Yemen both have become violent. Gelvin reassures us that it isn’t just the people deciding to be violent, but it is because of the weakness of the state and the fragmentation of the army. (Gelvin, 82).
3. The presence of al-Qaeda in Yemen is an interesting factor to consider in the uprisings. Though their power is debatable (Gelvin, 90) there is still a risk that their power could increased in Yemen.
Is there anything that the protestors in Libya and Yemen can use from the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia that is in their capabilities?
1. Political scientists and historians offer two explanations to explain the prevalence of authoritarian governments in the Arab world. The first suggests that because much of the “Arab world” is highly dependent on rent this provides for a situation where the state is the dominant economic actor and therefore not dependent on citizens for revenue. The second explanation suggests that authoritarian regimes helped the US achieve their foreign policy goals and were thus supported by the US.
ReplyDelete2. Economic factors which contributed to the unrest and vulnerability of many states in the “Arab world” included the plummeting prices of oil. Consequentially governments in the “Arab world” began to renegotiate the “ruling bargain” and the rights to citizens that Arab socialism promised to ensure. Consequentially effects included heavy debt burdens and adoption of neoliberal policies which engendered greater a wealth gap and unemployment for the poor and middle classes.
3. “Youth bulge” has resulted in the high numbers of unemployed youth ready and eager to enter the job market. (Youth bulge typically occur when states have moved to a process of low numbers of immortality and fertility.) This phenomenon has been credited for on sparking “waithood”; “ A period in which youths wait for good jobs, wait for marriage and intimacy and wait for full participation in societies.”
1. There were not strong political parties in Tunisia or Egypt during time of the uprisings. Though governing parties existed they were seemingly “hollow shells whose sole purpose was to dispense patronage.” Both countries did however have “security apparatus” which covers a variety of formal (like the military) and informal (like thugs), groups.
2. Similarities between Tunisia and Egypt’s uprisings included not just the form of protest and method of organization/ publicity but also its “spontaneity, leaderlessness, rapid spread and nonreligious largely nonviolent orientation” (44) In both countries youths and labor classes were linked by the common cause and cry for both political and economic rights.
3. The fact that the military and regime were separate from one another enabled the military and army to take action by their own accord in Tunisia. The military and army’s non intervention in the removal of Gamal Mubarak’s presidency was/ is suspected to be motivated by the economic interest and role of which the military has in Egypt’s overall economic affairs.
1. The general welfare, economic and political climates within Yemen and Libya prior to the uprisings that took place there was “poor” and lead to the vulnerability of the states. Both countries were run by autocratic regimes, corruption in both states was “built into the system.”
2. Yemen and Libya are both considered “weak states” (or states lacking two of the following; a territory, functioning government and bureaucracy that rules over the entirety of the territory and national identity.) Four factors that have contributed to their title as “weak” include; 1. difficult geography which inhibits 2. History, 3. “ The decisions of leaders” 4. Both states are monocultural exporters of oil
3. The lack of formal institutions in both countries provides partial reason for such extreme and “appalling” levels of violence that was used on protestors; “ Security forces and the military treated the protestors as combatants” (81) There was not clear separation between military and regime as there was in other countries where uprisings took place.
How or in what ways could making these countries “self sufficient” help to prevent and settle the unrest which helped spark their citizens uprising?
Chapter 1
ReplyDelete1. An important differebtiation to be made is, what might be called an "imagined Arab community" that exists in the heads of those who identify themselves as Arab and, on the other hand, arab nationalism. Just because people might identify themselves as Arab they will necessarily prefer to not recounce their original citizenship for a pan-Arab state. This ultimately leads to the strong connection that many Arabs feel toward uprisings within neighbor states with much interest and in some cases prefering to emulate them, within the Arab nations there is a strong connection between neighboring states and events which take place in them.
2. Within the Middle East during the years of 1980-2010 the average GDP grew at a rate of .5% anually, with the avage world being 3%, and outside of Oil and gas exports remained flat, and close to 60% of the regions exports go directly to Europe, and unemployement ranged between 10-12% within states which data was available. Estimated loans of $160 billion were made by the IMF in order to meet the obligations of the middle east. This is something which I found quite unexpected, I knew exports other than oil were low figured but I did not assume growth to be this low, along with the amount of money required to help the situation, I did not expect it to be this high in value.
3. During the 1980s after "the wave of Islamic violence" (28) resulting in the repression of Islamist groups throughout the region and many of these groups turning away from politics altogether we see in the following decades that many Islamist parties won elections or made significant inroads among many voters throughout the region. From running these elections the Islamist parties put their seal of approval on the democratic process as a whole, which in turn spread the demand for both democracy and human rights throughout the Arab world, leading other countries to demand for the same.
Chapter 2
ReplyDelete1. Within both Tunisia and Egypt we see how the governments similarly tried to handle the problems they had: monitor, frighten, and repress the population. We see how both the leaders tried to set up secret police forces to watch and “protect” the people, but really just protect their own interests; these groups were made up of less than ideal citizens and used far from humane tactics to control the population, these tactics ultimately did not work and were some of the main causes of the outcomes.
2. In both Tunisia and Egypt the corruption levels were off the charts, officials were often bribed because of low salaries bribes were basically written into the economic system. The privatization of government owned assets fed the corruption leading to those with the proper connections obtaining public enterprises at dirt cheap prices. The low wages throughout the country led to some of the most intense corruption related problems, we see as the people are struggling to meet ends meet how backdoor routes are made and eventually become overlooked.
3. Throughout both of these revolutions social media played a huge part in spreading the news and informing others about events regarding revolts and other revolution information. This is something that prior to this has never been done before, we have never seen social media be used to the extent which it was during these revolutions for a cause like this. This is something that I found fascinating reading about, it showed how truly we have come to a new level of technological advancement and really leads us to wonder how or what technology will be involved in next.
Chapter 3
Yemen and Libya are defined as “weak states” because they lack the second of the three characteristics of a strong stage and often the third: a territory, a functioning government, and a national identity. Weak states ultimately only survive because of international law and international institutions guarantee their authority over a given territory. These countries remain weak states because of: geography, history, and the failed decisions of previous leaders. Seeing how these states have remained weak states for so long really makes me wonder how immense of a project becoming a strong state would be, but this weak state works in favor of the revolutionary party, because of these states lack of government withholding the revolutionary is a much more difficult task than for a strong state.
The uprising within Libya began after witnessing the events in both Tunisia and Egypt, we saw Libya have a “day of rage” protesting on social media against the governments and complaining of economic conditions they were faced with, we here again see social media playing such a strong role within the uprisings in Arab countries. This also relates back to in chapter 1 when we learned about the strong connection to neighboring Arab states and how often actions within one country is followed by actions within other nearby countries.
The conflicts in both Yemen and Libya turned quite violent throughout the development of uprisings which led to many questions of this origination. The cause of this violence is led to be from the tribal characteristics of both Yemen and Libya, we see the statement “then there is the fact that Yemen has the most heavily armed population in the Arab world.” These two uprisings compared to the uprisings within Egypt and Tunisia played out very differently which might have been a factor of the violence within the uprisings.
Question
How will technology and social media play out within the Arab countries post revolution?