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Essay / Arab Spring; Origin, context, characteristics and results
Table of contentsOriginCausesInternational impactInternational criticism and reactionsArab Spring at the UNOriginThe Arap Uprising/Spring refers to a series of popular uprisings in Arab countries occurring from 2010 to the present. Quickly rated by the international press, the chain of conflicts began with the Tunisian revolution in December 2010. However, Noam Chomsky, renowned philosopher and activist, believes that the demonstrations of October 2010 in Western Sahara were the point start of the riots. Initially, the Western press also spoke of an Arab democratic revolution. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The riots are unprecedented in the Arab world, for although there have been many revolutions in secular and republican history. Until now, they were characterized by the birth of military coups and giving way to governments with authoritarian measures with or without popular support, while current events are described by a democratic demand and a substantial improvement of conditions of life. By the nature of their protests (democratic freedoms, political, economic and social changes), some European observers associate them with the European revolutions of 1830 and 1848 and 1989 in Eastern Europe, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 The Arab Spring Although these were initially popular protests, several countries raised the issue systematically and the civil uprising took on a global dimension. In Tunisia and Egypt, where it held elections after the establishment of an Islamist government that later overthrew a military coup in 2013, revolts toppled governments within weeks, but in countries like Libya or Syria, the government responded and refused to relinquish power. which pushed part of the population to arm themselves and trigger civil wars in both countries. In Libya, rebels overthrew government forces six months after the start of the revolution with NATO help. However, in Syria, the war has dragged on and the military impact has intensified, without the end being near and hundreds of thousands of people estimate the number of deaths; many see the situation in Syria as the darker side of the Arab Spring, due to the emergence of, for example, the Islamic State, which has taken over large areas of both Syria and Iraq - a jihadist explosion which also took place in Libya at the end of the Gaddafi Government. However, in other countries, the rebellion only resulted in small protests and demonstrations. This series of protests in favor of democracy or a change of regime or government initially contrasted with the silence of the European Union and relatively strong support from the United States. . The Italian Foreign Ministry, Franco Frattini, explained the lack of European response by explaining that they were not independent states and colonies of Europe. The European Union met on January 31, 2011 to decide whether or not to support the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt; but hardened their stance against Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, called for a peaceful solution and not to condemn his government. The first reports on the spread of the revolution from Tunisia to its Arab neighbors did not comment on its success, but announced certain generalities in countries such as autocracy and the current capacity for mobilization of the people, which intellectuals and academics like AzzedineMariachi and Abdennour Benatar. The protests are known to have sparked a call for democracy demonstrations in China, where they were quickly suppressed. La Primavera cost countries in the region nearly $800 trillion through 2014. Causes The Arab Democratic Revolution is considered the first massive wave of secular and democratic protests in the Arab world in the 21st century. The protests, of a social nature and in the case of Tunisia, supported by the army, were caused by structural and demographic factors, difficult living conditions rooted in unemployment, to which were added corrupt regimes and authoritarian. Explains Pedro Fuentes of the PSOL, these regimes, born from the Arab nationalism of the 1950s and 1970s, became repressive governments that prevented credible political opposition which led to a vacuum filled by Islamist movements of all kinds. Other causes of poor living conditions, besides unemployment and the social and political injustice of their governments; they lie in the lack of freedoms, the heavy militarization of the country and the lack of infrastructure in places where all the benefits of growing economies fall into the hands of the corrupt. Some have analyzed why these revolutions/uprisings could not have happened before. It has been said that even during the Cold War, Arab countries supplemented their national interests with those of the American and Soviet superpowers, which faced global hegemony. It was only at the end of the Cold War that, by exception, these countries benefited from greater political freedom, coinciding with a vast process of globalization to disseminate ideas, freedom of expression of West and, at the end of the 1st decade of the second The millennium ended up having a significant presence of social networks, which established themselves on the Internet in 2008. The system, in turn, implemented its presence in the 2000s thanks to the development plans of the European Union. The majority of protesters were young (in fact the protests in Egypt were called youth of the revolution). Internet and the main difference with previous generations is that they have primary education, and sometimes even higher and university education. Immanuel Wallerstein today considers the Arab Spring as a second Arab revolt, heir to what we call the spirit or current of 1968 - in front of the outside - colonialist and anti-authoritarian - in front of the inside - which did not not successful in its time and which is rising now. again, but with contradictions, and should be considered a fundamental part of global protest movements (2010-2011 protests in Greece, 15-M movement, student mobilization in Chile 2011-2013, student mobilizations in Colombia in 2011 and 2012, Occupy Wall Street, strikes in China in 2011). Finally, the deep economic crisis that plunged the countries of North Africa, as well as most of the rest of the earth, into more extreme poverty, was a trigger to produce increases in the prices of goods, causing famine among the poorest.International impactOn February 12, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called on relevant governments to refrain from using power against protesters, as well as to deepen democratic reforms in the region. On February 21, British Prime Minister David Cameron became the first world leader to visit Egypt following the overthrow of Mubarak ten days earlier. The news blackout was lifted when the prime minister landed in Cairo for five hours, a hastily added stopover at the start of his planned Middle East tour. Like many of the mainWorld oil producers are countries in the Middle East, the unrest has caused an increase in oil prices. The International Monetary Fund therefore revised its forecast for 2011 by predicting a rise in prices and also signaled that food prices could rise. 96 Additionally, concerns over Egypt's Suez Canal have increased oil transportation prices. with the Arab revolutions demonstrates the hypocrisy of governments in the Western world and elsewhere. Žižek denounced the "Western liberal reaction to the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, which often displays hypocrisy and cynicism." Asked if he thought Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, was an "authoritarian leader" before the modern movement ousted him from power, President Barack Obama said he tended to " not to use labels towards people,” he called him “a loyal ally in many ways of the United States of America” and said Mubarak “has been a force for stability in the region.” Protests in many affected countries have drawn widespread support. of the international community while the government's heavy-handed responses have conformed to belief. In the case of the protests in Bahrain, Morocco and Syria, the international response has been much more nuanced. Some critics have accused Western governments, including France, the United Kingdom and the United States, of hypocrites in their response to the protests. Noam Chomsky accused the Obama administration of trying to dampen the revolutionary wave and stifle modern democratization efforts in the Middle East. Furthermore, the role played by countries that have challenged the attitudes adopted by Western powers, such as Russia and China, has been denounced as being inspired by interests and objectives.The Arab Spring at the UNSeptember 26, the Syrian question was taken up by the Security Council at the level of foreign ministers. Formally, the discussions focused on a conceptual document distributed in Germany. The document was devoted to cooperation between the UN Security Council and the League of Arab Nations. The Arab League secretary general and Western representatives used the UN Security Council as a platform to condemn Russia for invoking its veto. League and the UN. In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that events in the Middle East and North Africa once again confirm the need to respect the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and above all respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. of States, non-interference in internal affairs and non-use of threat or force. Lavrov also reported that on September 26, the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) issued a joint statement emphasizing the role of the press in Geneva as a basis for finding a way out of the conflict. the Syrian crisis, contrary to draft Security Council resolutions, never came into force. At the same time, activities against Syria began during the General Assembly session as well as in some Arab and Western capitals. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Tani, Emir of Qatar, said that given the failure of the Security Council to pass resolutions, Arab states must get involved in Syria and they have everything they need to do. The failure of the UN was used as a pretext to destroy the structure of the United Nations. For example, Iceland's foreign minister said, the truth is that the Security Council has become an obstacle to international efforts to resolve.