The Arab Spring just celebrated 10
years of resistance, pursuit of equality and justice. An event sparked by the
immolation of a street vendor in Tunisia shacked up the thrones of Arab
dictators from the far Middle East till North Africa. Before 2011, it was
unimaginable to depict Arab world without their beloved dictators. In Syria,
Bashar El Assad succeeded to his late father and opened the door for more dictatorship
passage de baton. Ben Ali of Tunisia was considering his Brother-in-law as successor
and Jamal Mubarak planned to inherit Egyptian “throne “from his father Hosni
Mubarak. Was the Arab Spring a deliberate awakening of the Arab World? Or was
it initiated by other players to reshuffle the power balance in the Middle East?
Did any Arab Nation benefit from the supposed free elections generated
following unprecedented manifestations? Let us discuss the Arab Spring from two
perspectives: Tunisia and Egypt.
While Tunisia was a pioneer in
Women’s rights and freedom of speech as long as they were within the scope of social
not political contexts. Egypt was a conservative society with fewer liberties.
Tunisia was far from any major conflict and relied on its neighbors to keep it
safe. As a former French colony, Tunisia counted on France for military
protection and investments. The foreign
investments were significative, and tourism was the backbone of Tunisian’s economy.
On the other hand, Egypt was relatively stable in part due to its oil and gas reserves,
tourism, annual American military aid. “Washington provides Cairo $1.3bn annually in foreign military finance
(FMF) to purchase US weapons and defense equipment” (Harding, 2011). Egypt main priority
was to maintain a strong Military Regime. After all, every Egyptian president
since its independence was a former high ranking general. The common factors
between the two countries were the unbearable level of corruption and the
dictatorship regimes.
The chute of Ben Ali’s regime in
Tunisia was relatively fast and did surprise most experts in the region.
Tunisia’s allies such as France and Algeria did not see it coming. Everyone
believed that Ben Ali had an iron grip, and his regime of 23 years will surmount
the storm. It is still a mystery how Tunisian manifestants were able to
overcome the military and police heavy descent in Tunisian towns. Tunisian
called it the Jasmine Revolution. Following these unprecedented events in
Tunisia. Manifestations sparked in all Arab world. The events made sceptics
doubt the time and the ampler of the simultaneous manifestations in Arab
capitals. Was the Arab Spring a Western Manipulation? After all, many NGOs were
installed in the Arab World teaching peaceful activism and the use of social
media to caption the attention of the mass population (Burs-Dla,
JKB, KJM, NJE, 2020). Researcher
Stephane Lacroix, from the Paris Institute of Political Studies, dismissed the
foreign conspiracy theory. “Those who see imperialism everywhere fail to
believe that individuals are capable of organizing themselves because they have
had enough”. Experts appear united in their assessment that the West was blind
to what was happening and lacked courage to seize the initiative. (Burs-Dla, JKB, KJM, NJE, 2020). Egypt saw unprecedented manifestations
led by the Muslim Brotherhood. In counterpart, the crackdown on manifestants
was brutal and hundreds of manifestants were killed before the chute of
Mubarak’s regime. “An Egyptian commission reported 846 deaths
between January 25, when protests first escalated, and February 11, when former
President Hosni Mubarak left power” (Rettig, 2011). Mubarak served as a scapegoat to the military regime in
Egypt. The military had too much to lose if they kept supporting Mubarak and it
was also an opportunity to get rid of Jamal’s Mubarak plan to inherit his
father “Throne”. Mubarak
and his sons were imprisoned. The military institution in Egypt was clear that Egypt will not be governed by civilians. While the
opportunistic position of Egyptian military did not surprise observers. The
position of Obama’s administration to abandon a 30-year ally astonished
everyone. “To win popular Arab opinion, Obama was
risking America’s status as a superpower and reliable ally. Throughout Asia,
Africa and South America, leaders are now looking at what is going on between
Washington and Cairo. Everyone grasps the message: “America’s word is worthless
... America has lost it” (Hamilton.
2011). The chute of regimes in both Egypt
and Tunisia sparked hope for democratic elections. Nevertheless, it also led to
a vacuum of power. The Muslim Brotherhood organization came back to the national
scene after decades of persecution and imprisonment of its elites’
members. In Tunisia, Ennahda Party with Muslim
Brotherhood affiliation was the main actor and was able to govern after the
elections. In Egypt, the power struggle remained between the Muslim Brotherhood
and the military. The election of the first civilian president in the history
of Egypt did not last too long. Mohammed Morsi was ousted by a Military coup
led by his own Defense Minister Maréchal El Sissi.
Looking back at 10 years of Arab Spring.
The economic situation of Egypt and Tunisia considerably deteriorated. Terrorist
attacks decimated the tourism sector in both countries. For instance, youth
unemployment Pre- Arab Spring in Tunisia was 30% and in Egypt 24%. As of 2020, unemployment
in Tunisia reached 35% and in Egypt 33% (Robinson, 2020). According to Ferid Belhaj the World Bank
Regional Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa.: “In the last
decade. With very few exceptions, MENA countries have run up unsustainable
public debt and increased their dependence on capital inflows. While some in
the region, mainly in the Gulf, have shown improvements in the ease of doing
business, overall competitiveness of MENA countries falls short of the region’s
potential”. Looking back at the last decade in the Arab World, some qualified
it as the lost decade.
In my opinion
the most valuable thing youth in Middle East and North Africa lost is not freedom
of expression, economic opportunities or access to education and health. Yet,
they lost hope. Hope to develop their own countries and live a normal life in
their beloved nations. Bright individuals are fleeing their countries to
immigrate to Europe or North America. The less lucky ones are trapped in their
own countries. In some countries the situation is so bad that people are
nostalgic of their old dictator. If we look at Libya, Iraq, and Yemen post Arab
Spring, can we really blame them! I cannot neither blame new governments
inheriting bankrupt states with millions or even billions in debt. They are
asked to adjust to inflation, pay debts, raise taxes, provide economic
opportunities, improve health and education services. Unfortunately, these
governments are managing day to day operations without a clear vision. As soon
as another unrest starts, a government reshuffling would bring new faces and a
feeling of déjà vu.
Looking back
at 10 years of Arab Spring. It seems that protestants and opposition forces
were too naïve. Corrupt doctrines did not belong to government officials,
politicians, and military. Corruption became a way of life for all. Free
elections may have change faces. However, it did not change corrupt believes.
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