This post is due by Tuesday, March 11 @ 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.
Introduction
ReplyDelete1. Aging leaders did not focus on the changing times and needs of the region’s youth, which make up the majority of the population.
2. The US invasion of Iraq not only tensed up relations between the West and the East, but between different groups of Muslims.
3. Every Arab regime is vulnerable to revolution.
Chapter 1
1. “jumlukiya,” meaning “republarchy” fuses the words republic and monarchy. This can be used to describe a country where the leader was brought to power democratically and slowly took full control. This is evident over most of the Arab world, especially the counties experiencing uprisings.
2. Leaders in these countries worried more about their survival as leader than the needs of their people.
3. “Some Arab dictatorships and dynasties even introduced more meaningful elections, but they worked to curtail any concrete changes the ballot box might bring. When one party can change the laws to its benefit… there is no real choice” (14).
Introduction:
ReplyDelete1. In a region where 61 percent of the population was under 30, widespread unemployment was a fact of life. Members of what has come to be called the “generation-in-waiting” could not express their dissatisfaction at the ballot box (2). It would be pointless for the younger generation to vote because they know all of the elections have been fixed by their rulers.
2. The first Arab Human Development Report outlined the freedom deficit, the women’s empowerment deficit, and the knowledge deficit. The report revealed the Arab world had lower literacy levels than the developing countries’ average, and invested less in research than most regions of the world (3). Leaders of the Arab world did not want their populations’ to become better educated in hopes of being able to stay in power for as long as possible.
3. It is a battle for satisfying jobs, decent housing, and the right of young people to grow up and build families and futures of their own. It is a battle for dignity and justice after years of repression (7). I am curious if the older generations in the Middle East are as enthusiastic towards progress and change as the younger generation.
Chapter 1:
1. Governments spend a higher proportion of their state budgets on defense and security than any other. In 2009, an average 4.6 percent of Arab GDP went on military spending, compared to the global average of less than 2 percent (12). This spending is used to discourage the threat of revolt by the public.
2. Western media coverage made it easier to present a sanitized view of developments in the Arab world. Arab first ladies were popular abroad, but their unveiled, slick, and empowered images bore little resemblance to the lives of ordinary women and the undemocratic ways of their husbands (16). It is striking just how easy the media can tarnish the real truth.
3. In 2010, the United States more than doubled its official military aid to Yemen after an Al-Qaeda-linked militant trained in the country tried to blow up a passenger plane by hiding explosives in his underwear (19). I wonder if the United States would have boosted the aid so much if they did not have interests in Yemen.
Question: Does the United States want to see democratization in the Middle East, or do the resources and relations with rulers outweigh democratic progress?
Introduction
ReplyDeleteFirstly, the authoritative regimes caused political unrest in Arabs countries. A good case is Libya. They did not give people freedom of expression. This made people vulnerable to manipulation.
Secondly, the western world had influence in the Arab uprising. This follows Hillary Clinton address in Doha. The talk acted as ultimatum to dictators.
Thirdly, that Arab world dictatorship led to social problems. There was soaring food prices, unemployment and political activism. Lack of political participation caused all these .
Chapter 1
Firstly,nepotism characterizes Arab nations’ leadership. A good case is Mubarak of Egypt, who led for 30 years without vice president. He was ousted while grooming his son.
Secondly,United States was against the dictatorship in the Middle East countries. It empowered and funded civil societies and invited Arab bloggers. It was step to destabilize the government operations.
Thirdly,the governance in the Middle East acted as a setback developments. There was no citizen participation. The government determined what was good for the people .
Question: why does united states sell weapons to Arab countries ?Is that going to help democracy there?
Intro
ReplyDeleteI am ashamed to know that the U.S. supported Gaddafi so strongly, and I am even more embarrassed to know that as soon as the tides changed we tried to switch our support so quickly to back the rebellion. Such a blatant disregard, and even support, for what this man was doing to his own people is just mind boggling to a nation that stands for justice and freedom.
I wonder if the reason why this rebellion and eventually revolution was so successful was due to the young ages of the present generations in the Arab countries. “Arab populations were indeed young, but that was because the previous generation had produced so many children.” This was the perfect storm, combined with technology such as social networks all the right tool were at the disposal of mostly everyone.
I find it fascinating how many of the Arab countries all had these revolutions at nearly the same time for about all the same reasons but each seems to have turned out differently, some for the better or for the worst. For example the issues in Tunisia have basically been resolved and with minimal violence, where Syria is a bloody mess and fighting is still present today. This probably has to do with how the leaders in these set nations chose to address the issues.
Ch 1
I think it is very interesting that not one of the Arab countries was listed as having potential instability. I suppose the Eurasia group probably didn’t expect this to happen because most Arab counties, especially Egypt, had never before hinted at any ideas of revolution or fighting back against their regime; even though most Arab countries had been in a state of distress due to their regime for some time.
I find it extremely ironic that these nations spent so much of their stolen wealth on defense when they were taken down from the inside due to their own actions. “Rather than invest in the future of their countries, these leaders dedicated much of their wealth and power of the state to ensuring their own survival”. This just goes to prove that survival means a lot more when it comes to keeping your citizens happy and content.
It is no wonder, at least to me, that these individuals stood up and wanted change. When the only two scenarios happening in the Arab world are “under the thumb of authoritarian rulers” or “in the midst of chaos” there are only so many generations that will tolerate that kind of oppression before they just simply don’t care what happens to them because things are already as bad as they can be. Once again proving that paying attention to citizens and their needs is one of the most import ways to keep a healthy society a good way to stay in power.
Intro:
ReplyDelete1. “Only two men had occupied the post of president since Tunisia won independence from France in 1956….The United States has seen eight presidents occupy the White House since the colonel, then a youthful twenty-seven-year-old, deposed King Idris.” It’s shocking to think about how the majority of Tunisia’s population has been alive shorter than has been in power (3).
2. The first Arab Human Development Report was written by a group of Arab scholars and not Westerners. For me this makes the findings more meaningful since this eliminates having a difference in definition. Post-9/11 a negative connotation has been connected with the Arab world and even the “invulnerable” groups have felt the backlash (3).
3. The Arab population is very young as a result of previous generations having an average of 6 children. However, in the decade after the first Arab Human Development Report being published those rates have fallen drastically. This makes me wonder whether the rates went down so much because the younger generations are having such a difficult time getting jobs, which causes them to feel like they need to marry later (4).
Ch 1:
1. Many of the GNGOs there were able to flourish in the Arab world were led by the wives of Arab kings or presidents. I’m surprised that these women who are usually portrayed as weak run the GNGOs, but at the same time it makes sense because this allows the government to have a hand in them without the king or president having to worry about it. These women are also allowed power that most women in their countries are unable to attain (15).
2. The US had a lot of influence in the Arab world. They propped up their allies, but also turned a blind eye to their enemies as long as they were serving the interests of the US. This meant that the US was supporting illiberal and undemocratic leaders while they were spewing messages about freedom and democracy across the world (17).
3. “The Bush administration’s public enthusiasm for accelerated Arab democracy appeared to be waning by 2006.” The elections in the Arab world prior or right after 2006 showed that regardless of how the US felt about it there were strong figures opposing the leaders of the country’s they supported (21).
Introduction:
ReplyDelete- “It has been a turbulent decade for the Arab world, home of some of the richest countries like Qatar, and some of the poorest like Yemen.” (page 2) The distribution of wealth seems to be a bit skewed in the Arab World. As well as its reliance on oil makes it susceptible to major fluctuation.
-With 61 percent of Arabs under the age of 30 the book says unemployment is a way of life. With unemployment seen in such a way there what is the motivation for these kids to do well for themselves and educate themselves when it will get them nowhere.
- “Two years on there is much to suggest that the Arab spring should have been predictable.” (Page 8) The book goes on to talk about raising food prices, rent prices, and little employment opportunity how does anyone survive under conditions like this. Perhaps this revolution was a long time coming and social media only provided ground for the revolution to stand.
Chapter 1:
- Not a single Arab country made it on to the list of top global risks in 2011. How can the people who were analyzing the countries not see the corruption and maybe expect some changes to occur. Maybe a lack of reality being that they were looking in from the outside and didn’t have a true grasp of life there.
- “Some rulers and their families fortified their power basis by filling the military and interior security forces with members of their own tribe or sect.” (Page 12) This goes with the saying the rich get richer. This creates a safety net for the people in power allowing for fully supported corruption.
- ‘The Arab Exception’ was a result of it not being ready for democracy and America forcing its beliefs onto the Arab countries. You cannot simply push your beliefs onto someone else that is ignorant and many times they will gain nothing or gain a corrupt version. These types of changes need to be voluntary.
Question: How could no one have seen the Arab Spring coming when all the signs are so obvious now? Was this something we could only know from the people living on the inside?
1.
ReplyDelete-I agree that if you had said that Mubarak and Gaddafi would be forced out of power by years end, you’d be considered insane by a vast majority of citizens.
-It’s surprising just how oblivious the Arab Leaders were to the growing frustration of the youth in their countries. It is all just as surprising how limited their knowledge of the internet was and the power it had over them in.
-Achieving the idea of Democracy has never been easy for the Arab Nations to achieve. It will take something the Arab Spring to perhaps give that idea a chance.
2
-It was surprising to find that America was not the first to have an arrest warrant Osama Bin Laden. It was relatively unknown that Libya was the first to put the warrant on the man.
-It’s unsurprising that the U.S often turned a blind eye when their Arab allies violates human rights. It goes to show that U.S ranks profits and oil stability over human rights
-The divide of lifestyles between the rich and poor was astronomical. It went to show just how disconnected the dictators were to their citizens they were.
question: Why did the Arab dictatorships stay with the Cold War era tactics so for so long?
Introduction
ReplyDeleteIn a region where 61 percent of the population was under 30, widespread unemployment was a fact of life. This is definitely a reason to get the population angry towards the government for not providing for its citizens.(2).
“Only two men had occupied the post of president since Tunisia won independence from France in 1956”. This shows how corrupt people have ruled Tunisia but as well as stay in position and not move forward at all (3).
Two years on there is much to suggest that the Arab spring should have been predictable.” The books talks about raised in food prices, unemployment among other irritable things that citizens had to go through before they decided it was enough.(Page 8)
Chapter 1
“Some Arab dictatorships and dynasties even introduced more meaningful elections” But in reality the dictators were corrupt so in the end it really didn’t matter if they had elections because everything was already fixed. (14).
The US had a lot of influence in the Arab world. They propped up their allies, but also turned a blind eye to their enemies as long as they were serving the interests of the US. This is interesting because the US killed two birds with one stone. They seemed that they were supporting the government groups but they were keeping track of future terrorist groups. (17).
In 2010, the United States more than doubled its official military aid to Yemen after an Al-Qaeda-linked militant trained in the country tried to blow up a passenger plane by hiding explosives in his underwear. This is interesting seeing how it appears that the US is helping Yemen but if I remember correctly the US military was going more damage to the Yemen citizens than actually helping them. (19)
How long has the US been actually involve with the Arab Spring countries for?
Intro
ReplyDelete1. Mubarak has been in power since 1981, which is longer than the majority of Egyptians have been alive. Only two men have have occupied the post since president since Tunisia won independence from France in 1956. Since then we have had 8 presidents compared to the Egyptians 2.
2. The idea of change was so much talked about inside and out of the Arab world suggests that many had wanted and expected the uprising to occur. This was far from a quick happening uprising, the Arah Spring capped a decade of protest, political activism and media criticism that had laid the ground for more open political systems. Many movements against rising prices and lost of livings along with unemployment, corruption and political sagnation have gained traction in Tunisia and Egypt the 5 years before the uprising.
3.The Arab populations are indeed young, this is because the previous generations ad produced so many children, in the decade since the publication the fist Arab Human Development Report, fetility rates have fallen in most Arab countries. In North Africa women ad an average of 2.2 children in 2010, lower than the world average. The rate was 2.7 in the Gulf countries and 3 in the Levant, though it had remained high in Yemen. People are getting married at older ages and begining to chose their own life partners instead of the previously popular arranged marriages.
Chapter 1
1. Intelligence agencies operated in a legal grey area, carrying out arrests and operating secret jails where political prisoners, numberin thousands, were abused or torturted. Many of these prisoners were Islamists, but any journalist or academic worth his salt could expect to be in and out of jail on trumped-up charges or no charges at all. That line is crazy to me, hearing that "any decent journalist could expect to go to jail is something that just bewilders me".
2. The invasion of 2003 in Iraq, which was opposed by many of Washington's Arab allies, inflamed anger across the Arab world and raised a new generation of jihads. Tensions flared between the Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims from Pakistan to Bahrain. This invasion was an extremely controversial one throughout all parties involved, we see through the reading both the Muslim and American opposition to our involvement.
3. Arab rulers used the 'war on terror' as an excus to round up domestic opponents on the smallest or nonexistant evidence. Now, even more moderate Islamists could be jailed on charges of supporting terrorism, adding to the increasing domestic repression.
Introduction
ReplyDelete1. Economic struggles strongly took place in 2010 throughout the Arab world. Food prices, runaway costs, fuel prices, and a rising unemployment rate were among the issues. This was one of the many triggers for the Arab Spring. (2)
2. The U.S. invasion of Iraq led to sectarian civil war that lasted years. This caused great tension between the two branches of Islam; Sunni and Shi’ite. (3)
3. The Libyan leader, Gaddafi, was in power for 42 years until 2011. When he first entered office, Barack Obama was eight years old and Richard Nixon was president of the U.S. (3)
Chapter 1
1. Arab nations are known for spending more on security and defense than any other country. The global average of GDP spending on military is less than 2 percent while Arab was 4.6 in 2009. (12)
2. The people of the Arab world fear government spies, especially in Syria. Men posing as ordinary citizens or taxi drivers listening in on conversations along with phone tapping are not uncommon. (13)
3. Governments began tolerating non-governmental organizations as a way to steer people away from the idea of democracy. However, it had the opposite effect and NGOs were required to register, allowing the government to reject many organizations. (15)
Introduction
ReplyDelete1.) “While satellite television and the internet had created a new public space in the Arab world, eroding the personality cults that surrounded stalwart rulers, freer expression did not translate into political change. A dangerous disconnect was developing between ageing leaders, security-obsessed and seemingly stuck in a Cold War paradigm, and the restless youths they ruled. Lacking the resources to marry and still living with their parents, members of what has come to be called the ‘generation-in-waiting’ could not express their dissatisfaction at the ballot box.” (2)
2.) “Allowed to rise to the surface, all of these bottled-up tensions and conflicts could, as authoritarian rulers liked to remind the world, end in chaos or civil war. From Lebanon to Iraq to Algeria, Arab experiments with democracy had descended into violence that claimed lives by the hundreds of thousands. Yet change was something that millions of people around the region would be prepared to risk their lives for in 2011.” (5)
3.) “The battle for the Arab Spring is a battle for the identity of a region buffeted through past century by the rise and fall of European empires, by Cold War rivalry and by the encroachment of a triumphant US superpower that aggressively pressed its interests. It is a battle for satisfying jobs, decent housing and the right of young people to grow up and build families and futures of their own. Most of all, it is a battle for dignity and justice after years of repression. But other conflicts, simmering below the surface for decades before 2011, have also been unleashed.” (7)
Chapter 1
1.) “Rather than invest in the future of their own countries, these leaders dedicated much of the wealth and power of the state to ensuring their own survival. Coercion, or the threat of it, was widely used in a region whose governments spend a higher proportion of their state budgets of defense and security than any other. In 2009, an average 4.6 per cent of Arab GDP went on military spending, compared to a global average of less than 2 per cent.” (12)
2.) “The club of Arab dictators had proven so resilient that a whole body of academic literature and journalistic commentary had developed to explain why emerging countries were industrializing, growing, creating jobs and shifting towards more representative government, while the Middle East fell ever further behind. Pundits spoke of the ‘Arab exception’, unfavorably comparing Arab countries first to Asia’s ‘tiger economies’, then to the BRICs, the rising powers of Brazil, Russia, India and China.” (16)
3.) “In the decade before Mohammed Bouazizi’s desperate suicide sparked the 2011 uprisings, people in the Arab world had witnessed Israel’s crushing of the second Palestinian intifada, marked by a spree of Palestinian suicide bombings that had shocked world opinion. They had watched Islamic extremists fly passenger jets into buildings on 9/11. They had suffered the darkest side of the US ‘war on terror’. They had witnessed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and Israel’s war against Hezbollah in 2006 and then against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in 2009.” (22)
Question: If these dictators had been in power for so long and the people felt so repressed, how come no one tried an uprising sooner to put a stop to it?
Introduction
ReplyDelete1.) “A dangerous disconnect was developing between aging leaders , a security-obsessed and seemingly stuck in a Cold War paradigm, and the restless youths they ruled.” – referring to the young age of most of the population and the fact that they were living with their parents and couldn’t give their “opinions at the ballot box.” (page 2) It must be hard when you have a leader who has been serving for decades and has a different mindset than those he leads. With the use of technology and the like.
2.) “The rate was 2.7 in the Gulf countries and 3 in the Levant, though it has remained higher in Yemen. This was a significant decline from an average of more than 6 children in the previous generation” (page 4) This number stuck to me because for that to be an “average” means that there are many young people in this generation, hence the 50% under 25 years of age.
3.) “And policymakers are at odds over how best to tackle economic problems, which if left unaddressed will only trigger more revolts in the future. (page 7) – and with the younger generation wanting “the right to grow up and build families and futures of their own,” it will be interesting to see how the government reacts to the pressure, seeing how the young people make up such a large percentage and are powerful in that sense, if there was ever another revolt.
Chapter 1
1.) “In 2009, an average 4.6 per cent of Arab GDP went on military spending, compared to a global average of less than 2 per cent” (page 12) – this is pretty interesting because the reason for the high percent is to protect themselves from Iran. In the US, military spending is very high, probably to protect themselves from attacks by everyone else, not so much internal.
2.) After reading page 17, it again comes to my realization that perhaps the US turns a blind eye to some things because of oil due to the fact that we are a very oil-dependent country at the moment.
3.) I wasn’t aware that the CIA was “abducting” Al-Qaeda suspects, but now that I think about it, and after watching Dirty Wars, I’m not very surprised. “Some Al-Qaeda suspects were subjected to what is euphemistically know as ‘extraordinary rendition’, meaning they were abducted and transferred to secret CIA detention centers or to their home countries, where they faced potential mistreatment.” (page 19)
Shukran, Arab Spring'ers - let's "extraordinary rendition" these reflections in class.
ReplyDeleteThat's a joke.
#Notfunny,
Dr. W
Introduction:
ReplyDelete• Public discontent with the regimes rose due to the greater freedom of expression that television and the internet supplied. However, the citizens of these countries effectively had no say in the elections since the ballots were either fraudulent or avoided altogether.
• The media coverage of the uprisings was substantial because the protesters were average citizens that protested through social media and non-violent methods who others could easily relate to instead of violent revolutionaries.
• The literacy levels and amount of research done in new fields were found to be lower in the Arab nation than other developing countries. This was surprising because until recently the Arab states had excelled in areas of technological development.
Chapter 1:
• As a person living in Syria, one could have expected to be under surveillance at any time with the expectation that the government is tapping your cell phone or that there are people nearby who work for Syria’s intelligence agency listening to your conversation.
• The Arab governments began requiring NGOs to register before they could officially operate. This allowed the government to shut down or limit the funding of NGOs that caused them trouble. The government sponsored its own GONGOs that were usually operated by the president’s wives. While these GONGOs received a large amount of support from the government, they often failed to represent the opinions of the middle and lower class citizens.
• The U.S. like many other countries is interested in keeping its economy in good shape. Whether or not it is capable of that is questionable though. Because of this it is in the U.S.’s best interests to stay on friendly terms with oil producers and keep trade flowing. Due to this reasoning the U.S. supported Mubarak and other corrupt regimes in the Arab world because it was profitable for the U.S. to support them regardless of the human rights violations they were known for committing.
Question:
DeleteWhy did the Arab countries continue to have "elections" when the winner was already per-determined? Was it just because the presidents wanted a better public image?
Introduction
ReplyDelete1. “While satellite television and the internet had created a new public space in the arab world … freer expression did not translate into political change.” These security obsessed rulers could not relate to the restless youths that wanted to contribute to their government. (2)
2. “These states looked stable from the outside, their leaders seeming invincible to those who had known no other.” “A lack of political precipitation forced many to retreat to the narrow and cosseted protection of religion, sect or tribe” (5)
3. “Policies that favored cities over provinces, one region over another, wealthy business elites over ambitious graduates, are coming home to roost. Struggles for control of councils and committees have reawakened old feuds between rival families’ villages and clans, not over religion but money, land resources and power.” This is not the best environment for a government, no matter democratic or authoritarian. (7)
Chapter 1
1. In my eyes, the fatal error incurred by these rulers is they invested in securing their rule instead of the countries growth. Had they invested in the country the population would be satisfied and less likely to attempt to overthrow the government. (12)
2. “There were several permutation to the ‘Arab exception’ argument, ranging from the suggestion that these societies were simply not ‘ready’ for democracy because their patriarchal nature predisposed them to authoritarian rule, to the opinion that Islam, as a religion, was intrinsically incompatible with democracy.” (16)
3. “… [Obama’s] handling of the Arab Spring would suggest that the US dilemma remained essentially unchanged. How does it balance its otf-stated desire to promote democracy and free markets in the Middle East and North Africa with its often conflicting political, economic and security interests in the region?” (22)
Question?
Would the Arab spring happened without 9/11 and America’s war on terror?
Intro
ReplyDelete1. The first Arab Human Development Report outlined the freedom deficit, the women’s empowerment deficit, and the knowledge deficit. The report revealed the Arab world had lower literacy levels than the developing countries’ average, and invested less in research than most regions of the world (3). Leaders of the Arab world did not want their populations’ to become better educated in hopes of being able to stay in power for as long as possible.
2. With 61 percent of Arabs under the age of 30 the book says unemployment is a way of life. With unemployment seen in such a way there what is the motivation for these kids to do well for themselves and educate themselves when it will get them nowhere.
3. The idea of change was so much talked about inside and out of the Arab world suggests that many had wanted and expected the uprising to occur. This was far from a quick happening uprising, the Arab Spring capped a decade of protest, political activism and media criticism that had laid the ground for more open political systems. Many movements against rising prices and lost of livings along with unemployment, corruption and political stagnation have gained traction in Tunisia and Egypt the 5 years before the uprising.
Ch1
1. Governments spend a higher proportion of their state budgets on defense and security than any other. In 2009, an average 4.6 percent of Arab GDP went on military spending, compared to the global average of less than 2 percent. This spending is used to discourage the threat of revolt by the public.
2. The US had a lot of influence in the Arab world. They propped up their allies, but also turned a blind eye to their enemies as long as they were serving the interests of the US. This is interesting because the US killed two birds with one stone. They seemed that they were supporting the government groups but they were keeping track of future terrorist groups.
3. In 2010, the United States more than doubled its official military aid to Yemen after an Al-Qaeda-linked militant trained in the country tried to blow up a passenger plane by hiding explosives in his underwear. I wonder if the United States would have boosted the aid so much if they did not have interests in Yemen.
Intro
ReplyDeleteThe "media revolution", in combination with " more time, fewer responsibilities, more personal freedom and better education" (4) helped to inspire a kind of freedom of expression amongst the Youth of the Arab world previously unknown to their predecessors. This freedom of expression helped to ignite a collective consciousness regarding what one has, has not and what one is (should be) entitled to. While this consciousness was recognized it did not translate into political change; in effect causing a grandulous disconnect between "aging leaders" and the "restless youths they ruled." (2).
" it (2002 Human Development Report) outlined three so-called deficits that were holding the region back. These deficits were the freedom , women's empowerment and knowledge deficits. During the decade following this report, the decade of "capped protest" (3) freedom became seemingly more attainable while knowledge became more accessible to the masses in most of the countries of the Arab world.
The Arab spring unleashed a number of other related and interconnected conflicts that did not reveal themselves directly or at the forefront of the Arab Spring. Such conflicts remained "simmering below the surface for decades before the Arab Spring" and include favoritism between cities of provinces, control of council committees and reawakened old feuds between rival families, clans and villages. (6-7)
Chapter 1
The emergency law enacted in countries like Syria, Egypt and Algeria effectively established the absence of "the rule of law" or constitutional protections. In turn, no one knew exactly what was permitted and what was not. (13)
The introduction of "more meaningful" elections by Arab dictatorship/ dynasties was an effective method to staying and maintaining power. " First it applied a veneer of plurality to systems that were in reality based on a single part that saw itself as the state. Secondly, it divided the opposition." (14)
The United States is/can be an imperialist, selfish country that only enforces its double standard ideals of spreading human rights and democracy as a means of ensuring peace, "justice" and domestic safety at times of its convenience. Throughout the Arab spring the United States continuously backed undemocratic corrupt rulers in order to keep its "taps" on oil reserves.
Question: Since 2002 what have the Human Development report statistics indicated in regards to the "three deficits holding the region back". Was there an progressing trend that may be correlated with the "onset" of the revolution?