Arab Spring has it failed?

It all started as a wave of movements in the arab nations in december 2010. The movemnt
started as rage against the goverment inactions on various issues including price rise,
unemplitment, ineualit!, autocratic rule and so on.
The countries were the wave shattered includes "g!pt Tunisia #ibi!a $emen . All these
countries saw violent clashes between people and government machineries . The government
finall! was thrown awa! in front the huge uprising.The flare of the uprisisng has shifted to other
countries including s!ria bahrain %man etc where it has been violent in its behaviour so far.
&eatures of Arab Spring.
Some features includes .
1. 'eoples particaipation was uite large. All sections of the people especiall! !outh
participated in the demonstartions in full letter and spirit.
2. (ole pala!ed b! Social )edia in bringing and maintaing the uprising was substantial.
3. )ost countries were the uprising too* place was either an alla! of +est or part of soviet
,nion during the cold war period.
4. All the countries were either autocratic or )onarch in nature.
5. The main demand of protesters were to initiate democracatic reforms in the state.
6. +oman participation.
(easons for Arab Spring.
There is common similarit! in the places where the uprising has erupted and that is all these
countries are governed b! autocrats of )onarcs.It is true that a ruler who doesnt care for his
people cannot rule with his own all the time. Some of the main reasons includes
a. -igh level of unemplo!ment .
.. ,neven distribution of wealth.
c. /o political freedom.
0 . /epotism and *inship.
". high burden of price rise and inflation.
&. corruption
1.2entralsed decision ma*ing with no public participation.
&. 'olitical 'owers is on captive few.
.ut considering all these reasons the underl!ing cause for such an uprisng is nothing but thae
anger and mistrust amoung the people towards the administration. The people were given
promises on various matters but were violated in all spheres.
Effects of Arab Spring .
The effects were uite ama3ing. The rulers of 2ountries li*e !emen , Tunisia "g!pt #ibi!a were
thrown out of power. The same level of protest were then blown out to other countries including
s!ria bahrain oman etc.Though the demonstrations were not of eual color in all countries . In
tunisia $emen and upto a certain e4tant "g!pt were peaceful but the tone at #ibi!a was ver!
violent. The oil prices in the international mar*et started shooting up li*e roc*ets.
The other west african and west asian countries started initiation of democratic process in
their respective nations. )an! countries including arab countries started reforms including
democratic decentrali3ation, woman participation in elections and started other reforms as well.
Arab Spring5 A &ailure?
It is highl! important to note that despite all these developments upto a certain e4tant the
original spirit of the Arab Spring lost in its due passage of time. In most places the color of the
movement got diluted and radical and anti social elements have the infiltrated into the movement
there b! leading to absolute chaos and violence. In areas li*e s!ria and libi!a the terrorist outfits
li*e the Al5ueda , Al5 /ursa has gone upto certain e4tant of capturing the land mass started
sharia law in those area. All the more after the decline of these rulers civil war bro*e out in all
these nations which ultimatl! resulted in chaos and fur!. 'eople started forming groups for self
interest and nations started to divide into pieces.
The role pla!ed b! international forces li*e the /AT% were li*e aadiing fuel to the fire.The
international communit! In the prete4t of responsibilit! to protect has actuall! made the situation
more violent and out of control. ,S stand of +ar %n Terroe was actuall! moc*er! and in the
prete4t of the leter the! were adopting the neocolonisation programmes. )ost nations ntentions
including the americans and russians were purel! economic in nature rather than an! reforms.
At most times the 1678 resoltions were passed in the ,/ secuti!u council so that punitive
measures ma! be initiated against the rulers of host countries which became futile in the
subseuesnt da!s. The case we can see in libi!a were no fl! 3one was enforced is still buring. In
most da!s we can hear the reports of suicide bombings and firings from these nations. The role
of ,/ has been limited upto to a greater e4tant in ma*ing peace and tranuilit! in the regions.
"g!pt 9 after the showdown.
Arab spring was its helm in eg!pt. All the sections from the societ! participated in the
movement right from the !outh to woman.-osni )ubar*h could not with stand the *ind of
pressure the general public has made upon him. The opposition includes )ohammed "l .arda!
former IA"A chief )uslim .rother hood under the leadership of muslim clergs and radical
elements, and other ethnic tribes . Though in the beginning mosr demonstrations were of
peaceful in nature , after a certain stage it lost its all its patience and got violent color.
After oveerthrowing -o3ni )ubara* eg!pt went for an election which was participated b! all
wal*s of societ! . )uslim brotherhood under the leadership of )ohhamed )otse! came into
power. .ut the histor! again repeated the same here also. +hat )ors! has promised to the
eg!ptian people were forgotten and started to establish more stringent laws in eg!pt. -e declared
he want to build an islamic republic of eg!pt with an islamic constitution. This was not
acceptable to most eg!ptians especiall! minorities . people agitation again started, an arm! coup
was plotted b! the arm! and the 1
st
ever democraticall! elected government of eg!pt was thrown
awa!.
#ib!an scenario.
/ot much different was in libi!a also. )ohammer 1adaaffi was over thrown b! the people in a
great fashion. ,nli*e other state rulers he was forced to flee underground and later on caught
and *illed b! the radical elements. -ere the International agencies including the ,/ and /AT%
pla!ed a crucial role in overthrowing the ruler. ,/S2 imposed no fl! 3one in libi!a. The!
provided both technical and logistic support to the opposition parties. After gadaffi:s fall the
nation went into the hand of radical and terrorist elements. The radical groups involved in libi!an
revolt started moving to other nations. The effects was seen in mali were a militar! coup was
erupted with the help of libi!an fighters. Al 9ueda do made a strong come bac* to these nations
and parts of the countr! is under them now. 2ivilian unrest was the result.
,nending s!rian crisis.
The other important uprising was in s!ria where bashar al assad government was in uestion.
Al assad was in power for more than 8 decades. The free s!rian arm! was the ma;or opposing
group where it includes people and ethnic gorups from different parts of the coutr!. The sunni 9
shai conflict was another reason for the uprising where the population is of ma;orit! sunnis
controlled b! shia government.
,nli*e other coutries s!ria is buring for the past 2 !ears where the opposition could not ma*e
an! substantial move agianst the regime. The main reasons includes divide amoung the
opposition, no consensus on international communit! and agencies and support from neighboring
countries li*e lebonon and iran. . The countr! is now in the verge of civil war .There is complete
brea* down of law and order, no emplo!ment, unrest and anger amoug the citi3ens.
2onsidering all these it is evident from the fact that what arab spring has started with a deep
anguish against the mis5 governance of the regimes has now become a state of civil war and
dumped the countries to doldrums. . "ven after overthrowing the autocratic rulers li*e )uammer
1addaffi , -o3ni )ubara* etc the situation has even worsened . 2ivil unrest and greater war has
become ultimate rsult. 'eace and tranuilit! has now become a far more an illusion in these
countries .-ence we can ver! well conclude that wave which started in the for of Arab spring gas
lost much relevance.
/ame < SA/0""'.A
(ef < The -indu , &oreign 'olic! )aga3ine, #o*sabha channel , I0SA website.