View source for Social:Arab Spring

{{short description|Protests and revolutions in the Arab world in the 2010s}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Arab Spring
| partof = 
| image = Infobox collage for MENA protests.PNG
| image_size = 300
| caption = Clockwise from the upper left corner:<br />Protesters gathered at Tahrir Square in [[Place:Cairo|Cairo]], [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], 9 February 2011;<br />Habib Bourguiba Boulevard, protesters in [[Place:Tunis|Tunis]], Tunisia, 14 January 2011;<br />dissidents in [[Place:Sanaa|Sanaa]], Yemen, calling for president Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign on 3 February 2011;<br />crowds of hundreds of thousands in Baniyas, [[Place:Syria|Syria]], 29 April 2011
| date = 17 December 2010 – December 2012
| place = [[Place:North Africa|North Africa]] and [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]] ([[Finance:MENA|MENA]] or [[Place:Arab world|Arab world]])<!--PLEASE discuss on talk page before reversing these geographical titles – leave to reflect the article title-->
| causes = *2000s energy crisis
*[[Social:Authoritarianism|Authoritarianism]]
*[[Social:Absolute monarchy|Absolute monarchy]]
*Demographic structural factors
*[[Philosophy:Human rights#Human rights violations|Human rights violations]]
*[[Finance:Inflation|Inflation]]
*[[Social:Kleptocracy|Kleptocracy]]
*[[Social:Political corruption|Political corruption]]
*Poverty
*[[Religion:Sectarianism|Sectarianism]]
*Self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi
*Unemployment
| goals = *[[Social:Democracy|Democracy]]
*[[Philosophy:Economic freedom|Economic freedom]]
*Employment
*Free elections
*[[Philosophy:Human rights|Human rights]]
*Reforms
*[[Social:Regime change|Regime change]]
| notes = 
| methods = *Civil disobedience
*[[Social:Civil resistance|Civil resistance]]
*Civil war
*[[Social:Defection|Defection]]
*Demonstrations
*Insurgency
*[[Social:Internet activism|Internet activism]]
*Media activism
*Mutiny
*Protests
*Protest camps
*[[Social:Rebellion|Rebellion]]
*[[Social:Revolution|Revolution]]
*[[Social:Riot|Riot]]s
*Self-immolation
*Silent protests
*Sit-ins
*Strike actions
*Urban warfare
| result = <!--fill when conflict is over, status should be empty-->
[[Social:Arab Spring concurrent incidents|Arab Spring concurrent incidents]],<br />Arab Winter,<br />Impact of the Arab Spring,<br />and Second Arab Spring
{{Collapsible list|title='''Full result by country'''|titlestyle=font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left;|
*'''Tunisia''': President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ousted, charged, exiled and government overthrown.
*'''Egypt''': President Hosni Mubarak ousted, arrested, charged, and government overthrown. The Sinai insurgency begins.
*'''Libya''': [[Social:Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution|Leader]] [[Biography:Muammar Gaddafi|Muammar Gaddafi]] killed following an eight-month civil war that saw a foreign military intervention and the government overthrown.
*'''Yemen''': President Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted, and power handed to a national unity government.
*'''Syria''': President Bashar al-Assad faced civil uprising against his rule that deteriorated into armed rebellion and eventual full-scale civil war.
*'''Bahrain''': Civil uprising against the government crushed by authorities and Saudi-led intervention.
*'''Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman''': Government changes implemented in response to protests.
*'''Morocco, Algeria and Jordan''': Constitutional reforms implemented in response to protests.
*'''Djibouti, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Palestine''': Protests.
}}
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| fatalities = {{c.}} 61,000 deaths in total (international estimate; ''see table below'')
| injuries = <!--we don't know the number-->
| arrests = <!--we don't know the number, some were arrested then escaped-->
}}
The '''Arab Spring''' ({{lang-ar|الربيع العربي|ar-rabīʻ al-ʻarabī}}) or the '''First Arab Spring''' (to distinguish from the Second Arab Spring) was a series of anti-government protests, [[Social:Rebellion|uprisings]] and armed rebellions that spread across much of the [[Place:Arab world|Arab world]] in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and [[Finance:Economic stagnation|economic stagnation]].<ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|date=19 January 2011|title=Peddler's martyrdom launched Tunisia's revolution|publisher=Reuters|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tunisia-protests-bouaziziidUKTRE70I7TV20110119}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.payvand.com/news/11/feb/1080.html|title=Uprisings in the region and ignored indicators|website=Payvand|access-date=23 February 2011|archive-date=25 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425231858/http://www.payvand.com/news/11/feb/1080.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> From Tunisia, the protests then spread to five other countries: [[Place:Libya|Libya]], [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], Yemen, [[Place:Syria|Syria]] and Bahrain. Rulers were deposed (Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia in 2011, [[Biography:Muammar Gaddafi|Muammar Gaddafi]] of Libya in 2011, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in 2011, and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen in 2012) or major uprisings and social violence occurred including riots, civil wars, or insurgencies. Sustained street demonstrations took place in Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]], Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Sudan. Minor protests took place in Djibouti, Mauritania, [[Place:State of Palestine|Palestine]], Saudi Arabia and the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.<ref name="NYRB-Ruthven">{{cite journal|last1=Ruthven|first1=Malise|title=How to Understand ISIS|journal=New York Review of Books|date=23 June 2016|volume=63|issue=11|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/06/23/how-to-understand-isis/|access-date=12 June 2016|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807014415/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/06/23/how-to-understand-isis/|archive-date=7 August 2016}}</ref> A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world is ''ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām!'' ({{Lang-ar|الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام|lit=the people want to bring down the regime}}).<ref name="slogan" />

The wave of initial revolutions and protests faded by mid-2012, as many Arab Spring demonstrations were met with violent responses from authorities,<ref name="Many wounded as Moroccan police beat protestors" /><ref name="Syria's crackdown" /><ref name="Bahrain troops lay siege to protesters' camp" /> pro-government militias, counterdemonstrators, and militaries. These attacks were answered with violence from protesters in some cases.<ref name="Syria clampdown on protests mirrors Egypt's as thugs join attacks" /><ref name="Yemeni government supporters attack protesters, injuring hundreds" /><ref name="Libya Protests: Gaddafi Militia Opens Fire on demonstrators" /> Multiple large-scale conflicts followed: the Syrian civil war;<ref name="Fear and Faith in Paradise">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__lUxmzAZ08C&pg=PA296|title=Fear and Faith in Paradise|access-date=23 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228083711/https://books.google.com/books?id=__lUxmzAZ08C&pg=PA296|archive-date=28 February 2017|isbn=978-1-4422-1479-8|last1=Karber|first1=Phil|date=18 June 2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers }}</ref><ref name="Arab Winter">{{cite web |url=http://americamagazine.org/issue/culture/arab-winter |title=Arab Winter |work=America |date=28 December 2012|access-date=23 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026051005/http://americamagazine.org/issue/culture/arab-winter|archive-date=26 October 2014}}</ref> the rise of [[Religion:Islamic State|ISIL]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Al-Marashi |first=Ibrahim |title=Iraq and the Arab Spring: From Protests to the Rise of ISIS |date=2017 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429494581-8/iraq-arab-spring-protests-rise-isis-ibrahim-al-marashi |work=The Arab Spring |pages=147–164 |access-date=2023-08-06 |edition=2 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780429494581-8 |isbn=978-0-429-49458-1}}</ref> insurgency in Iraq and the following civil war;<ref name="The Jerusalem Post">{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Analysis-Arab-Winter-is-coming-to-Baghdad-359348|title=Analysis: Arab Winter is coming to Baghdad|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=23 October 2014|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024013847/http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Analysis-Arab-Winter-is-coming-to-Baghdad-359348|archive-date=24 October 2014}}</ref> the Egyptian Crisis, coup, and subsequent unrest and insurgency;<ref name=euronews>{{cite news |url=http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/08/egypt-and-tunisia-s-new-arab-winter/|title=Egypt and Tunisia's new 'Arab winter'|work=Euro news|date=8 February 2013|access-date=23 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022235641/http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/08/egypt-and-tunisia-s-new-arab-winter/|archive-date=22 October 2014}}</ref> the Libyan Crisis; and the Yemeni Crisis and subsequent civil war.<ref name="Yemen's Arab winter">{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-s-arab-winter-1470341500|title=Yemen's Arab winter|work=Middle East Eye|access-date=23 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024051417/http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-s-arab-winter-1470341500|archive-date=24 October 2014}}</ref> Regimes that lacked major oil wealth and hereditary succession arrangements were more likely to undergo regime change.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/tracking-the-arab-spring-why-the-modest-harvest/|title=Tracking the "Arab Spring": Why the Modest Harvest?|website=Journal of Democracy|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-27}}</ref>

A power struggle continued after the immediate response to the Arab Spring. While leadership changed and regimes were held accountable, [[Social:Power vacuum|power vacuum]]s opened across the Arab world. Ultimately, it resulted in a contentious battle between a consolidation of power by religious elites and the growing support for democracy in many Muslim-majority states.<ref>Hoyle, Justin A. "A Matter of Framing: Explaining The Failure of Post-Islamist Social Movements in the Arab Spring." ''DOMES: Digest of Middle East Studies'' 25.2 (2016): 186–209. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 November 2016.</ref> The early hopes that these popular movements would end corruption, increase political participation, and bring about greater economic equity quickly collapsed in the wake of the counter-revolutionary moves by foreign state actors in Yemen,<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Filkins|first1=Dexter|title=A Saudi Prince's Quest to Remake the Middle East|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/09/a-saudi-princes-quest-to-remake-the-middle-east|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=9 May 2018|language=en|date=2 April 2018}}</ref> the regional and international military interventions in Bahrain and Yemen, and the destructive civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen.<ref name="Hassan and Dyer">{{cite journal|last1=Hassan|first1=Islam|last2=Dyer|first2=Paul|title=The State of Middle Eastern Youth.|journal=The Muslim World|date=2017|volume=107|issue=1|pages=3–12|url=https://www.academia.edu/31029084|doi=10.1111/muwo.12175}}</ref>

Some have referred to the succeeding and still ongoing conflicts as the Arab Winter.<ref name="Fear and Faith in Paradise" /><ref name="Arab Winter" /><ref name="The Jerusalem Post" /><ref name="euronews" /><ref name="Yemen's Arab winter" /> As of May 2018, only the uprising in Tunisia has resulted in a transition to constitutional democratic governance.<ref name="NYRB-Ruthven" /> Recent uprisings in Sudan and Algeria show that the conditions that started the Arab Spring have not faded and political movements against [[Social:Authoritarianism|authoritarianism]] and exploitation are still occurring.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2019/05/sudan-algeria-uprising-bouteflika-al-bashir|title=The Long Arab Spring|website=jacobinmag.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-17}}</ref> Since late 2018, multiple uprisings and protest movements in Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt have been seen as a continuation of the Arab Spring.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/no-one-can-predict-where-middle-east-will-be-10-years-now|title=From Lebanon to Iraq, the Arab Spring never ended, it just gets bigger|website=Middle East Eye}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/are-we-seeing-a-new-arab-spring-30904|title=Are we seeing a new Arab Spring?|website=Are we seeing a new Arab Spring?}}</ref>

{{As of|2021}}, multiple conflicts are still continuing that might be seen as a result of the Arab Spring. The Syrian Civil War has caused massive political instability and economic hardship in Syria, with the Syrian pound plunging to new lows.<ref name="Guardian 6-12-2020">{{cite news |date=2020-06-12 |title=US 'Caesar Act' sanctions could devastate Syria's flatlining economy |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/12/us-caesar-act-sanctions-and-could-devastate-syrias-flatlining-economy |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> In Libya, a major civil war recently concluded, with foreign powers intervening.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/libya-war-haftar-tripoli-russia-putin-us-turkey-a9557136.html Libya has a chance at peace but Russia and the US are in the way Haftar seems to be on his way out, while Turkey risks creating a new Afghanistan on Europe's southern flank], by Ahmed Aboudouh, June 9, 2020. Russia's ally, General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the self-proclaimed National Libyan Army, has lost his 14-month military campaign to capture the capital Tripoli. His rivals in the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces, backed by -extremist militias, managed to chase his troops deep into the east of the country.</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/libya-war-tripoli-haftar-russia-turkey-gna-a9554976.html Danger of 'miscalculation' as global powers scramble for position in Libya. Fighting moves from west to centre and south of country, as Egypt advances towards border, and Tripoli ignores truce calls. Borzou Daragahi, Oliver Carroll. June 8, 2020].</ref> In Yemen, a civil war continues to affect the country.<ref>[https://www.arabnews.com/node/1688576/middle-east Yemen's Government demands UN action regards Houthi violation of deal], Yemen's government has demanded UN action against Iran-backed Houthi militants for violating the Hodeidah deal, state news agency Saba New reported. Yemen's Economic Council – a state advisory body composed of cabinet members – said the militants looted the central bank in Hodeidah city and were delaying the fuel and food that arrive at the Hodeidah port. The looted funds were supposed to be used to pay salaries of public workers, who have not received payments for months, according to the report. This money will now "feed the militia's pointless war," the council said. On Wednesday, Yemen's Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani said Houthis are looting and extorting the private healthcare sector.</ref> In Lebanon, a major banking crisis is threatening the country's economy as well as that of neighboring Syria.

== Etymology ==
The term ''Arab Spring'' is an allusion to the [[Social:Revolutions of 1848|Revolutions of 1848]], which are sometimes referred to as the "Springtime of Nations", and the Prague Spring in 1968, in which a Czech student, Jan Palach, set himself on fire as Mohamed Bouazizi did. In the aftermath of the Iraq War, it was used by various commentators and bloggers who anticipated a major Arab movement towards [[Social:Democratization|democratization]].<ref>Krauthammer, Charles (21 March 2005): [http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2002214060_krauthammer21.html "The Arab Spring of 2005"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910040039/http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2002214060_krauthammer21.html|date=10 September 2013}}. ''The Seattle Times''. Retrieved 7 July 2013.</ref> The first specific use of the term ''Arab Spring'' as used to denote these events may have started with the US political journal ''Foreign Policy''.<ref name=massad /> Political scientist Marc Lynch described ''Arab Spring'' as "a term I may have unintentionally coined in a 6 January 2011 article" for ''Foreign Policy'' magazine.<ref name="The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East" /><ref name="lynch" /> Joseph Massad on ''Al Jazeera'' said the term was "part of a US strategy of controlling the movement's aims and goals" and directing it towards Western-style [[Social:Liberal democracy|liberal democracy]].<ref name="massad" /> When Arab Spring protests in some countries were followed by electoral success for [[Religion:Islamism|Islamist]] parties, some American pundits coined the terms ''Islamist Spring''<ref>The Atlantic: [https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/muslim-protests-has-obama-helped-bring-on-an-anti-us-islamist-spring/262731/ ''Muslim Protests: Has Obama Helped Bring On an Anti-U.S. 'Islamist Spring'?''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010222144/http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/muslim-protests-has-obama-helped-bring-on-an-anti-us-islamist-spring/262731/ |date=10 October 2016 }}, 23 September 2012, retrieved 30 November 2012</ref> and ''Islamist Winter''.<ref>Foreign Policy: [https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/19/learning_to_live_with_the_islamist_winter ''Learning to Live With the Islamist Winter''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019165821/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/19/learning_to_live_with_the_islamist_winter |date=19 October 2014 }}, 19 July 2012, retrieved 30 November 2012</ref>

Some observers have also compared the Arab Spring movements and the Revolutions of 1989 (also known as the "Autumn of Nations") that swept through [[Place:Eastern Europe|Eastern Europe]] and the [[Finance:Second World|Second World]], in terms of their scale and significance.<ref name="cfr" /><ref name="nytimes" /><ref name="thewashingtonreview" /> Others, however, have pointed out that there are several key differences between the movements, such as the desired outcomes, the effectiveness of [[Social:Civil resistance|civil resistance]], and the organizational role of [[Internet]]-based technologies in the Arab revolutions.<ref name="economist" /><ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/14781158.2014.924916|title=The failure of strategic nonviolent action in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Syria: 'political ju-jitsu' in reverse|journal=Global Change, Peace & Security|volume=26|issue=3|pages=299–313|year=2014|last1=Davies|first1=Thomas Richard|s2cid=145013824|url=http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13046/1/Manuscript-notanonymousREVISED.pdf}}</ref><ref name="nytimes1" /><ref name="themonkeycage" />

== Causes ==
=== Pressures from within ===
The world watched the events of the Arab Spring unfold, "gripped by the narrative of a young generation peacefully rising up against oppressive authoritarianism to secure a more democratic political system and a brighter economic future".<ref name="Hassan and Dyer" /> The Arab Spring is widely believed to have been instigated by dissatisfaction, particularly of youth and unions, with the rule of local governments, though some have speculated that wide gaps in income levels and pressures caused by the Great Recession may have had a hand as well.<ref>*[https://www.scribd.com/doc/90470593/The-CenSEI-Report-Vol-2-No-6-February-13-19-2012#outer_page_23 The Arab Spring—One Year Later: The CenSEI Report analyzes how 2011's clamor for democratic reform met 2012's need to sustain its momentum.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426035130/http://www.scribd.com/doc/90470593/The-CenSEI-Report-Vol-2-No-6-February-13-19-2012|date=26 April 2013}} ''The CenSEI Report'', 13 February 2012</ref> Some activists had taken part in programs sponsored by the US-funded National Endowment for Democracy, but the US government claimed that they did not initiate the uprisings.<ref>*{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/world/15aid.html?_r%3D0|title=U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 April 2011|access-date=2017-02-24|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123045240/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/world/15aid.html?_r=0|archive-date=23 January 2017|last1=Nixon|first1=Ron}} ''The New York Times'', 14 April 2011</ref>

Numerous factors led to the protests, including issues such as reform,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Alexander Kazamias, 'The "Anger Revolutions" in the Middle East: an answer to decades of failed reform', Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 13:2, June 2011, pp.143–156.|url=https://www.academia.edu/919845|journal=Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies|volume=13|issue=2|pages=143–156|access-date=20 February 2016|last1=Kazamias|first1=Alexander|doi=10.1080/19448953.2011.578857|s2cid=143734061}}</ref> [[Philosophy:Human rights|human rights]] violations, [[Social:Political corruption|political corruption]], economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, and a number of demographic structural factors,<ref name="Egyptian Revolution: A Demographic Structural Analysis" /> such as a large percentage of educated but dissatisfied youth within the entire population.<ref name="Demographics of the Arab League, computed by Wolfram Alpha" /><ref name="Digital Dissidence Political Change: Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt" /> Catalysts for the revolts in all [[Place:North Africa|Northern African]] and Persian Gulf countries included the concentration of wealth in the hands of monarchs in power for decades, insufficient transparency of its redistribution, corruption, and especially the refusal of the youth to accept the status quo.<ref name="Reverchon 03/13">{{cite news |last1=Reverchon|first1=Antoine|last2=de Tricornot|first2=Adrien|date=13 April 2011|title=La rente pétrolière ne garantit plus la paix sociale|url=http://lemonde-emploi.blog.lemonde.fr/2011/03/15/%C2%AB-la-rente-petroliere-ne-garantit-plus-la-paix-sociale-%C2%BB-dans-%C2%AB-le-monde-economie-%C2%BB/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317085246/http://lemonde-emploi.blog.lemonde.fr/2011/03/15/%C2%AB-la-rente-petroliere-ne-garantit-plus-la-paix-sociale-%C2%BB-dans-%C2%AB-le-monde-economie-%C2%BB/|archive-date=17 March 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Food Price Index.webp|thumb|325px|right|
{{legend-line|#00A2FF solid 4px|Food Price Index}}
{{legend-line|#FF2600 solid 3px|Oils}}
{{legend-line|#F8BA00 solid 3px|[[Biology:Cereal|Cereal]]s}}
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[[File:Fertilizer prices.webp|thumb|325px|right|Fertilizer prices
{{legend-line|#00A2FF solid 3px|[[Chemistry:Diammonium phosphate|DAP]]}}
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{{legend-line|#FF2600 solid 3px|[[Chemistry:Urea|Urea]]}}
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[[File:Corn vs Ethanol production.webp|thumb|325px|Corn vs Ethanol production in the United States
{{legend|#FFD932|Total corn production ([[Bushel|bushels]]) (left)}}
{{legend|B51700|Corn used for Ethanol fuel (bushels) (left)}}
{{legend-line|#313131 solid 3px|Percent of corn used for Ethanol (right)}}
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Some protesters looked to the Turkish model as an ideal (contested but peaceful elections, fast-growing but liberal economy, secular constitution but [[Religion:Islamism|Islamist]] government).<ref name="aljazeera" /><ref>Perez, Ines (4 March 2013).[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-and-rising-food-prices-heightened-arab-spring/ "Climate Change and Rising Food Prices Heightened Arab Spring"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017084429/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-and-rising-food-prices-heightened-arab-spring/ |date=17 October 2014 }}. ''Scientific American''.</ref><ref>Friedman, Thomas (7 April 2012).[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-other-arab-spring.html "The Other Arab Spring"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129012246/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-other-arab-spring.html |date=29 November 2016 }}. ''{{wipe|The New York Times}}''.</ref><ref>Natalini, Jones & Bravo (14 April 2015).[http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/4/4360 "Quantitative Assessment of Political Fragility Indices and Food Prices as Indicators of Food Riots in Countries"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501200023/http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/4/4360 |date=1 May 2015 }}. ''[[Earth:Sustainability|Sustainability]]''.</ref> Other analysts blamed the rise in food prices on commodity traders and the [[Chemistry:Corn ethanol|conversion of crops to ethanol]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://motherboard.vice.com/read/commodities-traders-helped-spark-the-war-in-syria-complex-systems-theorists-say|title=Climate Change and Rising Food Prices Heightened Arab Spring|last=Merchant|first=Brian|date=26 October 2015|website=Motherboard|publisher=Vice Media|access-date=7 February 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308075730/http://motherboard.vice.com/read/commodities-traders-helped-spark-the-war-in-syria-complex-systems-theorists-say|archive-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> Yet others have claimed that the context of high rates of unemployment and corrupt political regimes led to dissent movements within the region.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ross|first=Alec|title=Social Media: Cause, Effect and Response|url=http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2011/social_medias/21st-century-statecraft/EN/index.htm|work=NATO Review |author2=Ben Scott|year=2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103083700/http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2011/Social_Medias/21st-century-statecraft/EN/index.htm|archive-date=3 November 2011}}</ref><ref name="Social Media and the Arab Spring: What Have We Learned?" />

=== Social media ===
{{Main|Social:Social media and the Arab Spring}}
In the wake of the Arab Spring protests, a considerable amount of attention focused on the role of social media and digital technologies in allowing citizens within areas affected by "the Arab Uprisings" as a means for collective activism to circumvent state-operated media channels.<ref>{{cite web|title=CNN at SXSW: Social media in Arab Spring|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bSj4f9f8Eg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D1bSj4f9f8Eg|via=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]|format=Online video clip|date=12 March 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113000730/http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1bSj4f9f8Eg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D1bSj4f9f8Eg|archive-date=13 January 2015}}</ref> The influence of social media on political activism during the Arab Spring has, however, been much debated.<ref name="ASPO-H-01" /><ref name="ASPO-H-02" /><ref name="Social Media in the Middle East" /> Protests took place both in states with a very high level of Internet usage (such as Bahrain with 88% of its population online in 2011) and in states with some of the lowest Internet penetration (Yemen and [[Place:Libya|Libya]]).<ref name=Stepanova>{{cite web|last1=Stepanova|first1=Ekaterina|title=The Role of Information Communication Technologies in the "Arab Spring"|url=http://pircenter.org/kosdata/page_doc/p2594_2.pdf|website=Pircenter.org/|access-date=17 May 2015|date=May 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518101038/http://pircenter.org/kosdata/page_doc/p2594_2.pdf|archive-date=18 May 2015}}</ref>

The use of social media platforms more than doubled in Arab countries during the protests, with the exception of Libya.<ref name="Salem, Fadi, Mourtada" /> Some researchers have shown how [[Social:Collective intelligence|collective intelligence]], dynamics of the crowd in participatory systems such as social media, has immense power to support a collective action—such as foment a political change.<ref name="ASPO-H-03" /><ref name="ASPO-H-04" /> {{As of|2011|04|05}}, the number of Facebook users in the Arab world surpassed 27.7&nbsp;million people.<ref name="Salem, Fadi, Mourtada" /> Some critics have argued that digital technologies and other forms of communication—videos, cellular phones, blogs, photos, emails, and text messages—have brought about the concept of a "digital democracy" in parts of North Africa affected by the uprisings.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wellman|first1=Barry|last2=Rainie|first2=Lee|title=Networked|date=2014|publisher=The MIT Press|location=Boston, MA|page=207}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2011/social_medias/EN/index.htm|title=NATO Review - Social media: Power to the people?|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610184900/http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2011/social_medias/EN/index.htm|archive-date=10 June 2016}}</ref>

Facebook, Twitter, and other major social media played a key role in the movement of Egyptian and Tunisian activists in particular.<ref name=Stepanova /><ref>{{Cite news|title=Egyptians and Tunisians Collaborated to Shake Arab History|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/world/middleeast/14egypt-tunisia-protests.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=13 February 2011|access-date=4 February 2016|issn=0362-4331|first1=David D.|last1=Kirkpatrick|first2=David E.|last2=Sanger|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201122145/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/world/middleeast/14egypt-tunisia-protests.html|archive-date=1 February 2016}}</ref> Nine out of ten Egyptians and Tunisians responded to a poll that they used [[Company:Facebook|Facebook]] to organize protests and spread awareness.<ref name="Salem, Fadi, Mourtada" /> This large population of young Egyptian men referred to themselves as "the Facebook generation", exemplifying their escape from their non-modernized past.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rainie|first1=Lee|last2=Wellman|first2=Barry|title=Networked|date=2014|publisher=The MIT Press|location=Boston, MA|page=207}}</ref> Furthermore, 28% of Egyptians and 29% of Tunisians from the same poll said that blocking Facebook greatly hindered and/or disrupted communication. Social media sites were a platform for different movements formed by many frustrated citizens, including the 2008 "April 6 Youth Movement" organized by Ahmed Mahed, which set out to organize and promote a nationwide labor strike and which inspired the later creation of the "Progressive Youth of Tunisia".<ref name="Networked">{{cite book|last1=Wellman|first1=Barry|last2=Rainie|first2=Lee|title=Networked|date=2014|publisher=The MIT Press|location=Boston, MA|page=208}}</ref>

During the Arab Spring, people created [[Software:List of Facebook features|pages]] on Facebook to raise awareness about alleged crimes against humanity, such as police brutality in the Egyptian Revolution (see Wael Ghonim and [[Biography:Death of Khaled Mohamed Saeed|Death of Khaled Mohamed Saeed]]).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mellen|first=Roger|date=2013|title=Modern Arab Uprisings and Social Media: An Historical Perspective on Media and Revolution|journal=Explorations in Media Ecology}}</ref> Whether the project of raising awareness was primarily pursued by Arabs themselves or simply advertised by Western social media users is a matter of debate. Jared Keller, a journalist for The Atlantic, claims that most activists and protesters used Facebook (among other social media) to organize; however, what influenced Iran was "good old-fashioned word of mouth". Jared Keller argued that the sudden and anomalous social media output was caused from Westerners witnessing the situation(s), and then broadcasting them. The Middle East and North Africa used texting, emailing, and blogging only to organize and communicate information about internal local protests.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/06/evaluating-irans-twitter-revolution/58337/|title=Evaluating Iran's Twitter Revolution|last=Keller|first=Jared|date=18 June 2010|website=The Atlantic|access-date=4 February 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117195744/http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/06/evaluating-irans-twitter-revolution/58337/|archive-date=17 January 2016}}</ref>

A study by Zeynep Tufekci of the University of North Carolina and Christopher Wilson of the United Nations Development Program concluded that "social media in general, and Facebook in particular, provided new sources of information the regime could not easily control and were crucial in shaping how citizens made individual decisions about participating in protests, the logistics of protest, and the likelihood of success."<ref name="Arab Spring 2013">"Debate flares on 'Twitter revolutions,' Arab Spring." ''Agence France-Presse'' 10 March 2013. ''NewsBank''. Web. 26 October 2016.</ref> Marc Lynch of George Washington University said, "while social media boosters envisioned the creation of a new public sphere based on dialogue and mutual respect, the reality is that Islamists and their adversaries retreat to their respective camps, reinforcing each other's prejudices while throwing the occasional rhetorical bomb across the no-man's land that the center has become."<ref name="Arab Spring 2013" /> Lynch also stated in a ''Foreign Policy'' article, "There is something very different about scrolling through pictures and videos of unified, chanting Yemeni or Egyptian crowds demanding democratic change and waking up to a gory image of a headless 6-year-old girl on your Facebook news feed."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/02/07/twitter-devolutions/|title=Twitter Devolutions|website=Foreign Policy|date=7 February 2013 |access-date=2016-10-27|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007024431/http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/02/07/twitter-devolutions/|archive-date=7 October 2016}}</ref>

In the months leading up to events in Tunisia, Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Communications Program Manager Jonathan Stevens predicted the use of "collaborative Internet utilities" to effect governmental change. In his thesis, [http://sdsu-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.10/608/Stevens_Jonathan.pdf Webeaucracy: The Collaborative Revolution], Stevens put forth that unlike writing, printing, and telecommunications, "collaborative Internet utilities" denote a sea-change in the ability of crowds to effect social change. People and collaborative Internet utilities can be described as actor-networks; the [[Subitizing|subitizing]] limit (and history) suggests people left to their own devices cannot fully harness the mental power of crowds. [[Metcalfe's law]] suggests that as the number of nodes increases, the value of collaborative actor-networks increases quadratically; collaborative Internet utilities effectively increase the subitizing limit, and, at some macro scale, these interactive collaborative actor-networks can be described by the same rules that govern Parallel Distributed Processing, resulting in crowd sourcing that acts as a type of distributed collective consciousness. The Internet assumes the role of earlier totemic religious figureheads, uniting the members of society through mechanical solidarity forming a collective consciousness. Through many-to-many collaborative Internet utilities, the Webeaucracy is empowered as never before.<ref name="Webeaucracy: The Collaborative Revolution">{{cite thesis |url=http://sdsu-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.10/608/Stevens_Jonathan.pdf |publisher=San Diego State University |last=Stevens |first=Jonathan |date=20 October 2010 |title=Webeaucracy: The Collaborative Revolution}}</ref>

Social networks were not the only instrument for rebels to coordinate their efforts and communicate. In the countries with the lowest Internet penetration and the limited role of social networks, such as Yemen and [[Place:Libya|Libya]], the role of mainstream electronic media devices—cellular phones, emails, and video clips (e.g., [[Company:YouTube|YouTube]])—was very important to cast the light on the situation in the country and spread the word about the protests in the outside world.<ref name=Stepanova /> In [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], in [[Place:Cairo|Cairo]] particularly, [[Engineering:Mosque|mosque]]s were one of the main platforms to coordinate the protest actions and raise awareness to the masses.<ref name=Demidov>{{cite journal|last1=Demidov|first1=Oleg|title=Social Networks in International and National Security|journal=Security Index|date=2012|volume=18|issue=1|pages=22–36|doi=10.1080/19934270.2012.634122|issn=1993-4270}}<!--|access-date=17 May 2015--></ref>

Conversely, scholarship literature on the Middle East, political scientist Gregory Gause has found, had failed to predict the events of the Arab uprisings. Commenting on an early article by Gause whose review of a decade of Middle Eastern studies led him to conclude that almost no scholar foresaw what was coming, Chair of Ottoman and Turkish Studies at Tel Aviv University Ehud R. Toledano writes that Gause's finding is "a strong and sincere ''mea culpa''" and that his criticism of Middle East experts for "underestimating the hidden forces driving change ... while they worked instead to explain the unshakable stability of repressive authoritarian regimes" is well-placed. Toledano then quotes Gause saying, "As they wipe the egg off their faces," those experts "need to reconsider long-held assumptions about the Arab world."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dayan.org/file-download/download/public/11620|title=Middle East Historians and the Arab Spring: Early-Days Assessment|year=2011|publisher=Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (MDC)|access-date=2 April 2019}}</ref>

== Timeline ==

== History ==

=== Events leading up to the Arab Spring ===
Tunisia experienced a series of conflicts during the three years leading up to the Arab Spring, the most notable occurring in the mining area of Gafsa in 2008, where protests continued for many months. These protests included rallies, sit-ins, and strikes, during which there were two fatalities, an unspecified number of wounded, and dozens of arrests.<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name="Tunisian government faces growing dissent in mining region" />

In [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], the labor movement had been strong for years, with more than 3,000 labor actions since 2004, and provided an important venue for organizing protests and collective action.<ref name="autogenerated3" /> One important demonstration was an attempted workers' strike on 6 April 2008 at the state-run textile factories of [[Place:El Mahalla El Kubra|al-Mahalla al-Kubra]], just outside [[Place:Cairo|Cairo]]. The idea for this type of demonstration spread throughout the country, promoted by computer-literate working-class youths and their supporters among middle-class college students.<ref name=autogenerated3 /> A Facebook page, set up to promote the strike, attracted tens of thousands of followers and provided the platform for sustained political action in pursuit of the "long revolution".<ref name="Digital Dissidence Political Change: Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt" /> The government mobilized to break the strike through infiltration and riot police, and while the regime was somewhat successful in forestalling a strike, dissidents formed the "6 April Committee" of youths and labor activists, which became one of the major forces calling for the anti-Mubarak demonstration on 25 January in Tahrir Square.<ref name=autogenerated3 />

In Algeria, discontent had been building for years over a number of issues. In February 2008, US Ambassador Robert Ford wrote in a leaked diplomatic cable that Algeria is "unhappy" with long-standing political alienation; that social discontent persisted throughout the country, with food strikes occurring almost every week; that there were demonstrations every day somewhere in the country; and that the Algerian government was corrupt and fragile.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} Some claimed that during 2010 there were as many as "9,700 riots and unrests" throughout the country.<ref name="army_should_quit" /> Many protests focused on issues such as education and health care, while others cited rampant corruption.<ref name="Political Crises but Few Alternatives in Algeria" />

In Western Sahara, the Gdeim Izik protest camp was erected {{convert|12|km|mi}} southeast of [[Place:Laayoune|El Aaiún]] by a group of young Sahrawis on 9 October 2010. Their intention was to demonstrate against labor discrimination, unemployment, looting of resources, and human rights abuses.<ref name="Ref-1" /> The camp contained between 12,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, but on 8 November 2010 it was destroyed and its inhabitants evicted by Moroccan security forces. The security forces faced strong opposition from some young Sahrawi civilians, and rioting soon spread to El Aaiún and other towns within the territory, resulting in an unknown number of injuries and deaths. Violence against Sahrawis in the aftermath of the protests was cited as a reason for renewed protests months later, after the start of the Arab Spring.<ref name="Saharawi protests, violence and blackmail Moroccan" />

The catalyst for the escalation of protests was the self-immolation of Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi. Unable to find work and selling fruit at a roadside stand, Bouazizi had his wares confiscated by a municipal inspector on 17 December 2010. An hour later he doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire. His death on 4 January 2011<ref name="Tunisia suicide protester Mohammed Bouazizi dies" /> brought together various groups dissatisfied with the existing system, including many unemployed persons, political and human rights activists, labor and trade unionists, students, professors, lawyers, and others to begin the Tunisian Revolution.<ref name="autogenerated2" />

=== Protests and uprisings ===
The series of protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa that commenced in 2010 became known as the "Arab Spring",<ref name="Egypt protests: an Arab spring as old order crumbles" /><ref name="The Arab spring requires a defiantly European reply" /><ref name="Arab Spring – Who lost Egypt?" /> and sometimes as the "Arab Spring and Winter",<ref name="What Is Palestine's Next Move in the New Middle East?" /> "Arab Awakening",<ref name="The Arab awakening – Spotlight" /><ref name="The Arab awakening reaches Syria" /> or "Arab Uprisings",<ref name="Arab Uprisings: What the 20 February Protests Tell Us About Morocco" /><ref name="Democracy's hard spring" /> even though not all the participants in the protests were Arab. It was sparked by the first protests that occurred in Tunisia on 18 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid, following Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment.<ref name="Slap to a Man's Pride Set Off Tumult in Tunisia" /><ref name="Peddler's martyrdom launched Tunisia's revolution" /> With the success of the protests in Tunisia, a wave of unrest sparked by the Tunisian "Burning Man" struck Algeria, Jordan, [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], and Yemen,<ref name="Inspired by Tunisia and Egypt, Yemenis join in anti-government protests" /> then spread to other countries. The largest, most organized demonstrations often occurred on a "day of rage", usually Friday afternoon prayers.<ref name="arabnews" /><ref name="Police in south Yemen disperse 'day of rage' protests" /><ref name="Bahrain moves to foil anti-government rallies" /> The protests also triggered similar unrest outside the region. Contrary to expectations the revolutions were not led by Islamists:

{{blockquote|Even though the Islamists were certainly present during the uprisings, they never determined the directions of these movements—after all, there was hardly any central leadership in any of the uprisings. Some Islamist groups initially were even reluctant to join in the protests, and the major religious groups in Egypt—Salafis, al-Azhar, and the Coptic Church—initially opposed the revolution. The mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, proclaimed that rising against a lawful ruler—President Mubarak—was ''haram'', not permissible. And the Muslim Brotherhood's old guard joined in the protests reluctantly only after being pushed by the group's young people.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QQmDwAAQBAJ&q=rachid%20al-ghannouchi%20rebellion%20against%20the%20ruler&pg=PT189|title=Revolution without Revolutionaries: Making Sense of the Arab Spring|last=Bayat|first=Asef|date=2017|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-1-5036-0258-8|language=en-US}}</ref>}}

The Arab Spring caused the "biggest transformation of the Middle East since decolonization".<ref>A. Murat Agdemir. "The Arab Spring and Israel's Relations with Egypt. Israel Council of Foreign Affairs, 2016. Vol.10, No.2, pp. 223–235</ref> By the end of February 2012, rulers had been forced from power in Tunisia,<ref name="Tunisia's Ben Ali flees amid unrest" /> Egypt,<ref name="Egypt's revolution redefines what's possible in the Arab world" /> Libya,<ref name="Libya: civil war breaks out as Gaddafi mounts rearguard fight" /> and Yemen;<ref name="Thousands in Yemen Protest Against the Government" /> civil uprisings had erupted in Bahrain<ref name="reutbahdor" /> and Syria;<ref name=derspiegel28march /> major protests had broken out in Algeria,<ref name="Algeria protest draws thousands" /> Iraq,<ref name="wp13killed" /> Jordan,<ref name="Thousands protest in Jordan" /> Kuwait,<ref name="Kuwaiti stateless protest for third day" /> Morocco,<ref name="afrol1" /> Oman,<ref name="One dead, dozen injured as Oman protest turns ugly" /> and Sudan;<ref>{{Cite news|title=Sudan police clash with protesters|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/01/2011130131451294670.html|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=30 January 2011|access-date=25 September 2013|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201035536/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011130131451294670.html |archive-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> and minor protests had occurred in Mauritania,<ref name="rnw.nl" /> [[Religion:2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests|Saudi Arabia]],<ref name="Man dies after setting himself on fire in Saudi Arabia" /> Djibouti,<ref name="Pro-democracy protests reach Djibouti" /> Western Sahara,<ref name="New clashes in occupied Western Sahara" /> and Palestine. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January 2011 following the Tunisian Revolution protests. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 11 February 2011 after 18 days of massive protests, ending his 30-year presidency. The [[Place:Libya|Libya]]n leader [[Biography:Muammar Gaddafi|Muammar Gaddafi]] was overthrown on 23 August 2011, after the National Transitional Council (NTC) took control of Bab al-Azizia. He was killed on 20 October 2011 in his hometown of [[Place:Sirte|Sirte]] after the NTC took control of the city. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed the GCC power-transfer deal in which a presidential election was held, resulting in his successor Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi formally replacing him as president on 27 February 2012 in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Weapons and Tuareg fighters returning from the Libyan Civil War stoked a simmering conflict in Mali that has been described as 'fallout' from the Arab Spring in [[Place:North Africa|North Africa]].<ref name="Mali coup: Arab Spring spreads to Africa">{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/03/26/Mali-coup-Arab-Spring-spreads-to-Africa/UPI-33131332791728/?spt=hs&or=tn |publisher=United Press International|title=Mali coup: Arab Spring spreads to Africa|date=26 March 2012|access-date=31 March 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202221420/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/03/26/Mali-coup-Arab-Spring-spreads-to-Africa/UPI-33131332791728/?spt=hs&or=tn|archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref>

During this period, several leaders announced their intentions to step down at the end of their current terms. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced that he would not seek reelection in 2015 (he ultimately retracted his announcement and ran anyway),<ref name="Party: Bashir is not standing for re-election" /> as did Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose term was to end in 2014,<ref name="Iraq PM plans no re-election" /> although there were violent demonstrations demanding his immediate resignation in 2011.<ref name="Iraq angered protesters call for Maliki resignation" /> Protests in Jordan also caused the sacking of four successive governments<ref name="Jordanians stage anti-gov't sit-in in Amman" /><ref name="aljazeera2" /> by King Abdullah.<ref name="Jordan king appoints new PM, government quits" /> The popular unrest in Kuwait also resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Nasser Al-Sabah's cabinet.<ref name="Kuwait's prime minister resigns after protests" />

The geopolitical implications of the protests drew global attention.<ref name="Thousands of Yemenis call on president to quit" /> Some protesters were nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.<ref name="Arab protests attract Nobel interest" /> [[Biography:Tawakkol Karman|Tawakkol Karman]] of Yemen was co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize due to her role organizing peaceful protests. In December 2011 ''{{wipe|Time (magazine)}}'' magazine named "The Protester" its "Person of the Year".<ref name="Time's Person of the Year 2011" /> Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda won the 2011 World Press Photo award for his image of a Yemeni woman holding an injured family member, taken during the civil uprising in Yemen on 15 October 2011.<ref name="World Press Photo presents Samuel Aranda with photo of the year award" />

==== Summary of conflicts by country ====
[[File:Arab Spring and Regional Conflict Map.svg|790px|thumb|left|{{legend2|#800080|Government overthrown more than once}} {{legend2|#000018|Government overthrown}} {{legend2|#800000|Civil war}} {{legend2|#008080|Protests and governmental changes}} {{legend2|#d43f00|Major protests}} {{legend2|#deaa87|Minor protests}} {{legend2|#999999|Other protests and militant action outside the Arab world}}]]
{{clear}}
{|class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 95%"
|-
!scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Country
!scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Date started
!scope="col" style="width:16%;"|Status of protests
!scope="col" style="width:40%;" class="unsortable"|Outcome
!scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Death toll
!scope="col" style="width:14%;"|Situation
|-
|{{flag|Tunisia}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2010|12|18}}
|Government overthrown on 14 January 2011
|'''Overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali; Ben Ali flees into exile in Saudi Arabia'''
*Resignation of Prime Minister Ghannouchi<ref name="Tunisian prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi resigns amid unrest" />
*Dissolution of the political police<ref name="Tunisia forms national unity government amid unrest" />
*Dissolution of the RCD, the former ruling party of Tunisia and liquidation of its assets<ref name="Tunisia dissolves Ben Ali party" />
*Release of political prisoners<ref name="Tunisia set to release political prisoners" />
*Elections to a Constituent Assembly on 23 October 2011<ref name="Tunisia election delayed until 23 October" />
|{{nts|338}}<ref name="Report: 338 killed during Tunisia revolution" />
! style="color:#fff; background:#00112b;"|<span style="display:none;">E</span> <span style="color:white;">Government overthrown</span>
|-
|{{flag|Algeria}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2010|12|29}}
|Ended on 10 January 2012
|
*Lifting of the 19-year-old state of emergency<ref name="Algeria's state of emergency is officially lifted" /><ref name="Algeria repeals emergency law" />
|{{nts|8}}<ref name="Obama Poised to Step Up Criticism of Mubarak If Crackdown Is Intensified" />
!style="color:#fff; background:#d64400;"|<span style="display:none;">E</span> <span style="color:white;">Major protests</span>
|-
|{{flag|Jordan}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|1|14}}
|Ended on 4 October 2012
|
*In February 2011, King Abdullah II dismisses Prime Minister Rifai and his cabinet<ref name="King Abdullah II of Jordan sacks government amid street protests" />
*In April 2011, King Abdullah creates the Royal Committee to Review the Constitution with directions to review the Constitution in accordance with calls for reform. On 30 September 2011, Abdullah approves changes to all 42 articles of the Constitution<ref>Nuri Yesilyurt, "Jordan and the Arab Spring: Challenges and Opportunities," Perceptions 19, no. 4 (1 December 2014): 169–194.</ref>
*In October 2011, Abdullah dismisses Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit and his cabinet after complaints of slow progress on promised reforms<ref name="derhally" />
*In April 2012, as the protests continue, Awn Al-Khasawneh resigned, and the King appoints Fayez Tarawneh as the new Prime Minister of Jordan<ref name="JordansprimeministerresignsMiddle East" />
*In October 2012, Abdullah dissolves the parliament for new early elections, and appoints Abdullah Ensour as the new Prime Minister<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/10/world/meast/jordan-government/index.html|title=Jordan's king appoints new PM to form new government – CNN.com |publisher=CNN |date=11 October 2012|access-date=30 May 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601140957/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/10/world/meast/jordan-government/index.html|archive-date=1 June 2013}}</ref>
|{{nts|3}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/Category/2/8/World/Region.aspx|title=Region – World – Ahram Online|publisher=English.ahram.org.eg|access-date=30 May 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529124923/http://english.ahram.org.eg/Category/2/8/World/Region.aspx|archive-date=29 May 2013}}</ref>
!style="color:#fff; background:#008080;"|<span style="display:none;">C</span> <span style="color:white;">Protests and governmental changes</span>
|-
|{{flag|Oman}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|1|17}}
|Ended on 8 April 2011
|
*Economic concessions by Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said<ref name="Oman takes measures to address public grievances" /><ref name="Oman boosts student benefits" />
*Dismissal of ministers<ref name="Oman shuffles cabinet amid protests" /><ref name="AJ-Oman-5Mar" />
*Granting of lawmaking powers to Oman's elected legislature<ref name="Oman's Sultan Granting Lawmaking Powers to Councils" />
|{{ntsh|2}} 2–6<ref name="google1" /><ref name="aljazeera1" /><ref name="autogenerated1" />
!style="color:#fff; background:#008080;"|<span style="display:none;">C</span> <span style="color:white;">Protests and governmental changes</span>
|-
|{{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|1|21}} (Official protests began on 11 March 2011)
|Ended on 24 December 2012
|
*Economic concessions by King Abdullah<ref name="Saudi King Boosts Spending, Returns to Country" /><ref name="King's order to benefit 180,000 temporary employees" />
*Male-only municipal elections held 29 September 2011<ref name="alawsat_details" /><ref name="bloom_women" />
*Abdullah announces women's approval to vote and be elected in the 2015 municipal elections and to be nominated to the Shura Council<ref name="oman_observer_electionday" />
*Commitment to the expansion of women's rights in Saudi Arabia, especially after the ascension of Mohammad bin Salman to position of Crown Prince.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/520191/SAUDI-ARABIA/Kingdom-a-country-of-moderate-Islam|title=Kingdom a country of moderate Islam|date=2017-10-24|work=Saudi Gazette|access-date=2018-03-26|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21729721-bigger-changes-are-needed-ultraconservative-kingdom-saudi-arabia-will|title=Saudi Arabia will finally allow women to drive|date=27 September 2017|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref>
|{{nts|50+}}<ref name="comprehensive" />
!style="color:#fff; background:#eac27c;"|[[Religion:2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests|<span style="display:none;">A</span> <span style="color:white;">Minor protests</span>]]
|-
|{{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|3|9}} (Official protests began on 10 March 2011)
|Ended on 20 December 2012
|
* Economic benefits were granted to quell the populace.
|Unknown
|!style="color:#fff; background:#eac27c;"|<span style="display:none;">A</span> <span style="color:white;">Minor protests</span>
|-
|{{flag|Egypt}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|1|25}}
|Two governments overthrown (On 11 February 2011 and 3 July 2013), Egyptian Crisis follows until 2014
|'''Overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, who is later convicted of corruption and ordered to stand trial for ordering the killing of protesters.'''
*Resignation of Prime Minister(s) Ahmed Nazif and Ahmed Shafik<ref name="Egypt's prime minister quits, new govt soon-army" />
*Assumption of power by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces<ref name="wsj" />
*Suspension of the Constitution, dissolution of the Parliament<ref name="Egypt's military moves to dissolve parliament, suspend constitution" />
*Disbanding of State Security Investigations Service<ref name="Egyptian state security disbanded" />
*Dissolution of the NDP, Egypt's former ruling party, and transfer of its assets to the state<ref name="aljazeera5" />
*Arrest and prosecution of Mubarak, his family, and his former ministers<ref name="How the mighty have fallen" /><ref name="Detention" /><ref name="reutersmurdercharges" />
*Lifting of the 31-year-old state of emergency<ref name="Egypt's state of emergency ends after 31 years" />
*Democratic election held to replace Mubarak as president; Mohamed Morsi elected and inaugurated;<ref name="Mohammed Morsi sworn in as Egypt's president" />
*Sinai insurgency begins
'''Overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, who was convicted of espionage and inciting the killing of protestors.'''
*Arrest of Morsi by the Egyptian Armed Forces in a publicly supported coup d'état<ref name="aj0307">{{cite web |date=4 July 2013 |title=President Morsi overthrown in Egypt |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/20137319828176718.html |access-date=21 October 2023 |website=Al Jazeera}}</ref>
*Designation of Adly Mansour as interim president and calls for early elections<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fahim |first1=Kareem |title=Egypt May Hold Presidential Vote Before Election of Parliament |work=The New York Times |date=29 December 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/30/world/middleeast/egypt-may-elect-president-before-parliament-vote.html |access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref>
|{{ntsh|846}} 846<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13134956|title=Egypt unrest: 846 killed in protests – official toll |date=19 April 2011 |publisher=BBC News |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128033203/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13134956|archive-date=28 November 2014}}</ref>
!style="color:#fff; background:#800080;"|<span style="display:none;">E</span><span style="color:white;">Two governments overthrown</span><br /><small>(<span style="display:none;">E</span><span style="color:white;">Mubarak government</span> • <span style="display:none;">E</span><span style="color:white;">Morsi government</span>)</small>
|-
|{{flag|Syria}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|1|26|}} (Major protests began on 15 March 2011).
|Civil uprising, which transformed into Syrian Civil War by July–August 2011
|
*Release of some political prisoners<ref name="Syrian activist Haitham al-Maleh freed under amnesty" /><ref name="Syria frees 80-year-old former judge in amnesty" />
*Dismissal of Provincial Governors<ref name="Unrest continues in Syria" /><ref name="Assad attempts to appease minority Kurds" />
*Resignation of the Government<ref name="Syrian cabinet resigns amid unrest" />
*End of Emergency Law
*Resignations from Parliament<ref name="bbc23april" />
*Large defections from the Syrian army and clashes between soldiers and defectors<ref name="Syrian army units 'clash over crackdown'" />
*Formation of the Free Syrian Army and deterioration into full-scale civil war
!style="color:#fff; background:#950000;"|<span style="color:white;">Civil War</span>
|-
|{{flag|Yemen}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|1|27}}
|Two governments overthrown (On 27 February 2012 and 22 January 2015). Yemeni Crisis and Civil War follows.
|'''Overthrow of Ali Abdullah Saleh; Saleh granted immunity from prosecution; is killed in 2017 by the Houthis.'''
*Resignation of Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar
*Resignation of MPs from the ruling party<ref name="aljazeera3" />
*Occupation of several areas of Yemeni territory by al-Qaeda and Houthi rebels
*Restructure of the military forces by sacking several of its leaders<ref name="commentmideast" />
*Approval of Saleh's immunity from prosecution by Yemeni legislators<ref name="Yemen Legislators Approve Immunity for the President" />
*Presidential election held to replace Saleh; Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi elected and inaugurated
'''Yemeni Crisis Begins, followed by [[Social:Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)|a civil war]]'''
|{{ntsh|2000}} 2,000<ref name=2,000killed>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/yemen-says-more-than-2000-killed-in-uprising/2012/03/18/gIQAGOtcLS_story.html Yemen says more than 2,000 killed in uprising]. ''The Washington Post''. (19 March 2012).</ref>
!style="color:#fff; background:#800080;"|<span style="display:none;">E</span><span style="color:white;">Two governments overthrown</span><br /><small>(<span style="display:none;">E</span><span style="color:white;">Saleh government</span> • [[Social:Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)|<span style="display:none;">E</span><span style="color:white;">Hadi government) and Civil War</span>]]</small>
|-
|{{flag|Djibouti}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|1|28}}
|Ended on 11 March 2011
|
|{{nts|2}}<ref name="hana">{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/02/201121816513686216.html|title=Djiboutians rally to oust president|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=18 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213222339/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/02/201121816513686216.html|archive-date=13 December 2014}}</ref>
!style="color:#fff; background:#eac27c;"|<span style="display:none;">A</span> <span style="color:white;">Minor protests</span>
|-
|{{flag|Sudan}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|1|30}}
|Ended on 26 October 2013
|
*President Omar al-Bashir announces he will not seek another term in 2015<ref name="Sudan's Bashir will not stand in next election: party official" />
*Bashir nevertheless chosen as Ruling Party candidate for 2015 election<ref>Abdelaziz, Khalid. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-election-bashir-idUSKCN0IA1DF20141021 "Sudan's Bashir chosen by ruling party as candidate for 2015 elections"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021181503/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/21/us-sudan-election-bashir-idUSKCN0IA1DF20141021|date=21 October 2014}}, {{wipe|Reuters}}, 21 October 2014. Retrieved on 21 October 2014.</ref>
|{{nts|200}}+<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/10/04/un-rights-monitor-condemns-deadly-sudan-crackdown/|title=UN rights monitor condemns deadly Sudan crackdown|date=4 October 2013|newspaper=Daily News Egypt|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016071820/http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/10/04/un-rights-monitor-condemns-deadly-sudan-crackdown/|archive-date=16 October 2014}}</ref>
!style="color:#fff; background:#d64400;"|<span style="display:none;">A</span> <span style="color:white;">Major protests</span>
|-
|{{flag|Palestinian National Authority}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|2|10}}
|Ended on 5 October 2012
|
*Then Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad states that he is "'willing to resign"<ref name="BBCNewsPalestinianPMwillingtoresignafterprotests" />
*Fayyad resigns on 13 April 2013 because of political differences between him and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas over the finance portfolio<ref name="PMAsks" />
|{{nts|None}}
!style="color:#fff; background:#eac27c;"|<span style="display:none;">C</span> <span style="color:white;">Minor protests</span>
|-
|{{flag|Iraq}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|2|12}}
|Ended 23 December 2011, instability and eventually war against terrorism follows
|
*Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announces he will not run for a 3rd term;<ref name="Iraqi prime minister won't run for third term" />
*Resignation of provincial governors and local authorities<ref name="Governor of third Iraqi province quits over protests" />
*Two-thirds wage increase for Sahwa militia members
*Elections held and Haider al-Abadi elected
*[[Religion:Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIL insurgents]] take broad swathes of Iraq
'''Start of War in Iraq (2014–2017)'''
!style="color:#fff; background:#d64400;"|<span style="display:none;">B</span> <span style="color:white;">Protests and  beginning of War</span> against terrorism
|-
|{{flag|Bahrain}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|2|14}}
|Ended on 18 March 2011
|
*Economic concessions by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa<ref name="Bahrain's king gives out cash ahead of protests" />
*Release of political prisoners<ref name="monstersandcritics" />
*Negotiations with [[Religion:Shia Islam|Shia]] representatives{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}
*[[Organization:Gulf Cooperation Council|GCC]] intervention at the request of the Government of Bahrain
*Head of the National Security Apparatus removed from post<ref name="Economist 3.12.2011" />
*Formation of a committee to implement BICI report recommendations<ref name="AJE 27.11.2011" />
|{{nts|120}}<ref name="comprehensive4" />
!style="color:#fff; background:#004a80;"|<span style="display:none;">D</span> <span style="color:white;">Sustained civil disorder and government changes</span>
|-
||{{flag|Libya|1977}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|2|15}} (Major protests began on 17 February 2011).
|Government overthrown on 23 August 2011, crisis follows
|'''Overthrow of [[Biography:Muammar Gaddafi|Muammar Gaddafi]]; Gaddafi killed by rebel forces'''
*Government defeated by armed revolt with UN-mandated military intervention<ref name="NATO Withdrawal from Libya" />
*Assumption of interim control by the National Transitional Council
*Beginning of sporadic low-level fighting and clashes<ref name="Fighters clash again near Tripoli, several dead" />
|{{ntsh|9400}} 9,400–20,000<ref name="revolutioncasualties">{{cite news |author=Ian Black |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/08/libyan-revolution-casualties-lower-expected-government |title=Libyan revolution casualties lower than expected, says new government |work=The Guardian |date=8 January 2013 |access-date=2 October 2013 |location=London}}</ref>
!style="color:#fff; background:#950000;"|<span style="display:none;">E</span><span style="color:white;">Government overthrown</span> and <span style="color:white;"><span style="display:none;">E</span><span style="color:white;">civil war</span></span>
|-
|{{flag|Kuwait}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|2|19}}
|Ended in December 2012
|
*Resignation of Prime Minister Nasser Al-Sabah<ref name="Kuwait Government resigns" />
*Dissolution of the Parliament<ref name="Kuwait to hold early general election on 2 February" />
|{{nts|None}}<ref name="30 wounded in Kuwait protests on Friday" />
!style="color:#fff; background:#008080;"|<span style="display:none;">C</span> <span style="color:white;">Protests and governmental changes</span>
|-
|{{flag|Morocco}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|2|20}}
|Ended in March–April 2012
|
*Political concessions by King Mohammed VI;<ref name="middle-east-online" />
*Referendum on constitutional reforms;
*Respect to civil rights and an end to corruption<ref name="independent.co.uk" />
|{{nts|6}}<ref name="Demonstrator's death energizes Moroccan protesters" />
!style="color:#fff; background:#008080;"|<span style="display:none;">C</span> <span style="color:white;">Protests and governmental changes</span>
|-
|{{flag|Mauritania|1959}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|2|25}}
|Ended in 2013
|
|{{nts|3}}<ref name="Mauritania's Bouazizi died today" />
!style="color:#fff; background:#eac27c;"|<span style="display:none;">A</span> <span style="color:white;">Minor protests</span>
|-
|{{flag|Lebanon}}
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|2|27}}
|Ended on 15 December 2011
|
|{{nts|None}}
!style="color:#fff; background:#008080;"|<span style="display:none;">D</span> <span style="color:white;">Protests and governmental changes</span>
|-
|Borders of Israel
|{{dts|format=dmy|2011|5|15}}
|Ended on 5 June 2011
|
|{{ntsh|35}} 35<ref name="FRANCE24" /><ref name="Pillay" />
!style="color:#fff; background:#d64400;"|<span style="display:none;">B</span> <span style="color:white;">Major protests</span>
|-
|colspan=4; style="text-align:right;"|'''''Total death toll and other consequences:'''''
|'''61,080+'''
(combined estimate of events)
|
*4 governments overthrown as part of the events
*Six protests leading to governmental changes
*Five major protests
*Four minor protests
*3 governments overthrown in the aftermath
*Four civil wars in the aftermath (Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen)
|}

=== Major events ===
==== Bahrain (2011) ====
[[File:Hundreds of thousands of Bahrainis taking part in march of loyalty to martyrs.jpg|thumb|Over 100,000 Bahrainis taking part in the "March of Loyalty to Martyrs" in Manama honoring political dissidents killed by security forces]]
The protests in Bahrain started on 14 February, and were initially aimed at achieving greater [[Social:Political freedom|political freedom]] and respect for human rights; they were not intended to directly threaten the monarchy.<ref name="reutbahdor" /><ref name="bici" />{{rp|pages=162–3|date=November 2012}} Lingering frustration among the [[Religion:Shia Islam|Shiite]] majority with being ruled by the Sunni government was a major root cause, but the protests in Tunisia and Egypt are cited as the inspiration for the demonstrations.<ref name="reutbahdor" /><ref name="bici" />{{rp|page=65|date=November 2012}} The protests were largely peaceful until a pre-dawn raid by police on 17 February to clear protestors from Pearl Roundabout in [[Place:Manama|Manama]], in which police killed four protesters.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|pages=73–4|date=November 2012}} Following the raid, some protesters began to expand their aims to a call for the end of the monarchy.<ref name="guardbahdown" /> On 18 February, army forces opened fire on protesters when they tried to reenter the roundabout, fatally wounding one.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|pages=77–8|date=November 2012}} The following day protesters reoccupied Pearl Roundabout after the government ordered troops and police to withdraw.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|page=81|date=November 2012}}<ref name="bbcbahtran" /> Subsequent days saw large demonstrations; on 21 February a pro-government Gathering of National Unity drew tens of thousands,<ref name="bici" />{{rp|page=86|date=November 2012}}<ref name="BBC 17.3.2011" /> whilst on 22 February the number of protestors at the Pearl Roundabout peaked at over 150,000 after more than 100,000 protesters marched there and were coming under fire from the Bahraini Military which killed around 20 and injured over 100 protestors.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|page=88|date=November 2012}} On 14 March, GCC forces (composed mainly of Saudi and UAE troops) were requested by the government and occupied the country.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|page=132|date=November 2012}}<ref name="BBCBahr14Mar" />

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa declared a three-month [[Social:State of emergency|state of emergency]] on 15 March and asked the military to reassert its control as clashes spread across the country.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|page=139|date=November 2012}}<ref name="reutbahsoe" /> On 16 March, armed soldiers and riot police cleared the protesters' camp in the Pearl Roundabout, in which 3 policemen and 3 protesters were reportedly killed.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|pages=133–4|date=November 2012}}<ref name="ajbahraincrackdown" /> Later, on 18 March, the government tore down Pearl Roundabout monument.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|pages=150|date=November 2012}}<ref name="telbahdes" /> After the lifting of emergency law on 1 June,<ref name="guarbahmll" /> several large rallies were staged by the opposition parties.<ref name="reutbahral" /> Smaller-scale protests and clashes outside of the capital have continued to occur almost daily.<ref name="JSC live blog 25 January 2012" /><ref name="JSC 15 February 2012" /> On 9 March 2012, over 100,000 protested in what the opposition called "the biggest march in our history".<ref name="bbcbahmar" /><ref name="reutbahmass" />

The police response has been described as a "brutal" crackdown on peaceful and unarmed protestors, including doctors and bloggers.<ref name="BBC News" /><ref name="scoop" /><ref name="independent" /> The police carried out midnight house raids in [[Religion:Shia Islam|Shia]] neighbourhoods, beatings at checkpoints, and denial of medical care in a "campaign of intimidation".<ref name="arabnews8" /><ref name="bbc9" /><ref name="www" /><ref name="csmonitor" /> More than 2,929 people have been arrested,<ref name="aljazeera4" /><ref name="washingtonpost" /> and at least five people died due to torture while in police custody.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|page=287,288|date=November 2012}} On 23 November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry released its report on its investigation of the events, finding that the government had systematically tortured prisoners and committed other human rights violations.<ref name="bici" />{{rp|pages=415–422|date=November 2012}} It also rejected the government's claims that the protests were instigated by [[Religion:Iran|Iran]].<ref name="BBC 9.3.2012" /> Although the report found that systematic torture had stopped,<ref name="bici" />{{rp|pages=417|date=November 2012}} the Bahraini government has refused entry to several international human rights groups and news organizations, and delayed a visit by a UN inspector.<ref name="Report: Doctors targeted in Bahrain" /><ref name="reutbahdel" /> More than 80 people had died since the start of the uprising.<ref name="AJE 23.4.2012" />

Even a decade after the 2011 uprisings, the situation in Bahrain remained unchanged. The regime continued suppression against all forms of dissent. Years after the demonstrations, the Bahraini authorities are known to have accelerated their crackdown. They have been targeting human rights defenders, journalists, Shiite political groups and social media critics.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/bahrain-dubai-saudi-arabia-united-arab-emirates-persian-gulf-tensions-89f7d61bc6ec332de35675eb31265d29|title=A decade after 2011 protests, Bahrain suppresses all dissent|access-date=11 February 2021|publisher=The Associated Press}}</ref>

====Saudi Arabia====
Saudi government forces quashed [[Religion:2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests|protests]] in the country and assisted Bahraini authorities in suppressing demonstrations there. 

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi critic, covered the Arab spring and spoke out against the Saudi government during this time. He was murdered by the government a few years later.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/from-royal-insider-to-target-how-the-arab-spring-propelled-jamal-khashoggi-into-the-saudi-leaderships-crosshairs-090005409.html |title=From royal insider to target: How the Arab Spring propelled Jamal Khashoggi into the Saudi leadership's crosshairs |date=24 June 2021 }}</ref>

==== Egypt (2011) ====
[[File:Tahrir Square on February11.png|thumb|Celebrations in Tahrir Square after Omar Suleiman's statement concerning Hosni Mubarak's resignation]]

Inspired by the uprising in Tunisia and prior to his entry as a central figure in Egyptian politics, potential presidential candidate [[Biography:Mohamed ElBaradei|Mohamed ElBaradei]] warned of a "Tunisia-style explosion" in Egypt.<ref name="Warning Egypt could follow Tunisia" />

Protests in Egypt began on 25 January 2011 and ran for 18 days. Beginning around midnight on 28 January, the Egyptian government attempted, somewhat successfully, to eliminate the nation's Internet access,<ref name="Analysis of Egyptian and Libyan outages" /> in order to inhibit the protesters' ability to use media activism to organize through [[Social:Social media|social media]].<ref name="Egypt: AP Confirms Government has Disrupted Internet Service" /> Later that day, as tens of thousands protested on the streets of Egypt's major cities, President Hosni Mubarak dismissed his government, later appointing a new cabinet. Mubarak also appointed the first Vice President in almost 30 years.

The U.S. embassy and international students began a voluntary evacuation near the end of January, as violence and rumors of violence escalated.<ref>{{cite news|title=Egypt: US Embassy to begin voluntary evacuation flights Monday|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/01/egypt-us-embassy-to-begin-evacuating-.html|access-date=13 September 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=30 January 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725011852/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/01/egypt-us-embassy-to-begin-evacuating-.html|archive-date=25 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Egypt Program Evacuation Timeline|url=http://www.ifsa-butler.org/about-us/health-and-safety-news/1234-egypt-program-evacuation-timeline.pdf|access-date=13 September 2013|newspaper=News & Updates: IFSA-Butler|date=31 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203013058/http://www.ifsa-butler.org/about-us/health-and-safety-news/1234-egypt-program-evacuation-timeline.pdf|archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref>

On 10 February, Mubarak ceded all presidential power to Vice President Omar Suleiman, but soon thereafter announced that he would remain as president until the end of his term.<ref name="Egypt's Mubarak refuses to quit, hands VP powers" /> However, protests continued the next day, and Suleiman quickly announced that Mubarak had resigned from the presidency and transferred power to the Armed Forces of Egypt.<ref name="Sharm el-Sheikh resort in world spotlight as Egypt's Mubarak flees Cairo" /> The military immediately dissolved the Egyptian Parliament, suspended the Constitution of Egypt, and promised to lift the nation's thirty-year "emergency laws". A civilian, Essam Sharaf, was appointed as Prime Minister of Egypt on 4 March to widespread approval among Egyptians in Tahrir Square.<ref name="In Egypt, crowd cheers newly appointed prime minister Essam Sharaf" /> Violent protests, however, continued through the end of 2011 as many Egyptians expressed concern about the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' perceived sluggishness in instituting reforms and their grip on power.<ref name="EGYPT: Protests continue but activists divided over goals" />

Hosni Mubarak and his former interior minister Habib el-Adly were sentenced to life in prison on the basis of their failure to stop the killings during the first six days of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.<ref name="New Turmoil in Egypt Greets Mixed Verdict for Mubarak" /> His successor, Mohamed Morsi, was sworn in as Egypt's first democratically elected president before judges at the Supreme Constitutional Court.<ref name="New president: Egypt turns page to new era" /> Fresh protests erupted in Egypt on 22 November 2012. On 3 July 2013, the military overthrew the replacement government and President Morsi was removed from power.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mohamed Morsi ousted in Egypt's second revolution in two years|author1=Kingsley, P.|author2=Chulov, M.|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/03/mohamed-morsi-egypt-second-revolution|newspaper=The Guardian|date=3 July 2013|access-date=3 July 2013|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730110206/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/03/mohamed-morsi-egypt-second-revolution|archive-date=30 July 2013}}</ref>

The aftermath of the uprising that took place in Egypt was deemed to turn out successfully. However, a December 2020 report published by PRI's ''The World'', a US-based public radio news magazine, the Egyptian government increased its executions by more than twofold. As a result, the government put to death approximately 60 people. This included human rights activists of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), who were arrested in November 2020. The executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, Stephen McInerney cited that a majority of pro-democracy activists have escaped Egypt and those who couldn't have gone in hiding. The Project on Middle East Democracy mentioned using encrypted communication channels to talk to the activists, concerning the protection of their whereabouts. Western countries have overlooked these issues including, the {{wipe|United States}}, {{wipe|France}}, and several other European countries. According to the founder of [[Organization:Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy|Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy]] in [[Place:Washington, D.C.|Washington, DC]], even after 10 years of the Arab spring, the country is at its lowest point for human rights.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-12-17/10-years-after-arab-uprisings-egypt-lowest-point-human-rights|title=10 years after the Arab uprisings, Egypt at 'lowest point' for human rights|access-date=17 December 2020|website=PRI The World}}</ref>

==== Libya (2011) ====
[[File:Demonstration in Al Bayda (Libya, 2011-07-22).jpg|thumb|Thousands of demonstrators gather in Bayda.]]
Anti-government protests began in Libya on 15 February 2011. By 18 February, the opposition controlled most of Benghazi, the country's second-largest city. The government dispatched elite troops and militia in an attempt to recapture it, but they were repelled. By 20 February, protests had spread to the capital [[Place:Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], leading to a television address by [[Biography:Saif al-Islam Gaddafi|Saif al-Islam Gaddafi]], who warned the protestors that their country could descend into civil war. The rising death toll, numbering in the thousands, drew international condemnation and resulted in the resignation of several Libyan diplomats, along with calls for the government's dismantlement.<ref name="HIGHLIGHTS – Libyan TV address by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi" />

Amidst ongoing efforts by demonstrators and rebel forces to wrest control of Tripoli from the Jamahiriya, the opposition set up an interim government in Benghazi to oppose Colonel [[Biography:Muammar Gaddafi|Muammar Gaddafi]]'s rule.<ref name="Ex Libyan minister forms interim govt-report" /> However, despite initial opposition success, government forces subsequently took back much of the Mediterranean coast.

On 17 March, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 was adopted, authorising a no-fly zone over Libya, and "all necessary measures" to protect civilians. Two days later, France, the United States and the United Kingdom intervened in Libya with a bombing campaign against pro-Gaddafi forces. A coalition of 27 states from Europe and the Middle East soon joined the intervention. The forces were driven back from the outskirts of Benghazi, and the rebels mounted an offensive, capturing scores of towns across the coast of Libya. The offensive stalled however, and a counter-offensive by the government retook most of the towns, until a stalemate was formed between Brega and Ajdabiya, the former being held by the government and the latter in the hands of the rebels. Focus then shifted to the west of the country, where bitter fighting continued. After a three-month-long battle, a loyalist siege of rebel-held Misrata, the third largest city in Libya, was broken in large part due to coalition air strikes. The four major fronts of combat were generally considered to be the Nafusa Mountains, the Tripolitanian coast, the Gulf of Sidra,<ref name="Rebels wage a secret night-time war on the streets of Tripoli" /> and the southern Libyan Desert.<ref name="Rebels Move Toward Gadhafi Stronghold" />

In late August, anti-Gaddafi fighters captured [[Place:Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], scattering Gaddafi's government and marking the end of his 42 years of power. Many institutions of the government, including Gaddafi and several top government officials, regrouped in [[Place:Sirte|Sirte]], which Gaddafi declared to be Libya's new capital.<ref name="From voice said to be Gadhafi, a defiant message to his foes" /> Others fled to Sabha, Bani Walid, and remote reaches of the Libyan Desert, or to surrounding countries.<ref name="Gaddafi loyalists flee Sebha to Niger" /><ref name="Rebels to seek return of Gaddafi family from Algeria" /> However, Sabha fell in late September,<ref name="hurriyetdailynews" /> Bani Walid was captured after a grueling siege weeks later,<ref name="Libya conflict: NTC forces claim Bani Walid victory" /> and on 20 October, fighters under the aegis of the National Transitional Council seized Sirte, killing Gaddafi in the process.<ref name="Qaddafi dead after Sirte battle, PM confirms" /> However, after Gaddafi was killed, the Civil War continued.

==== Syria (2011) ====
[[File:(Banyas demonstration) مظاهرات بانياس جمعة الغضب - 29 نيسان 2011.jpg|thumb|Anti-government demonstrations in Baniyas]]
Protests in Syria started on 26 January 2011, when a police officer assaulted a man in public at "Al-Hareeka Street" in old Damascus. The man was arrested right after the assault. As a result, protesters called for the freedom of the arrested man. Soon a "day of rage" was set for 4–5 February, but it was uneventful.<ref name="msnbcrage" /><ref name="aysor">{{cite web|url=http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2011/02/03/syrian-facebook-twitter/|title="Day of Rage" planned for Syria; protests scheduled for Feb 4–5|publisher=aysor.am|access-date=3 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505015333/http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2011/02/03/syrian-facebook-twitter/|archive-date=5 May 2011}}</ref> On 6 March, the Syrian security forces arrested about 15 children in Daraa, in southern Syria, for writing slogans against the government. Soon protests erupted over the arrest and abuse of the children. Daraa was to be the first city to protest against the Ba'athist government, which has been ruling [[Place:Syria|Syria]] since 1963.<ref name="Daraa: The spark that lit the Syrian flame" />

Thousands of protesters gathered in [[Place:Damascus|Damascus]], Aleppo, [[Place:Al-Hasakah|al-Hasakah]], Daraa, Deir ez-Zor, and Hama on 15 March,<ref name="alarabiya" /><ref name="sawtbeirut" /> with recently released politician Suhair Atassi becoming an unofficial spokesperson for the "Syrian revolution".<ref name="bbc5" /> The next day there were reports of approximately 3000 arrests and a few casualties, but there are no official figures on the number of deaths.<ref name="sawtbeirut6" /> On 18 April 2011, approximately 100,000 protesters sat in the central Square of Homs calling for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. Protests continued through July 2011, the government responding with harsh security clampdowns and military operations in several districts, especially in the north.<ref name="In Syria, Opposition Stages Massive Protests" />

On 31 July, Syrian army tanks stormed several cities, including Hama, Deir Ez-Zour, Abu Kamal, and Herak near Daraa. At least 136 people were killed, the highest death toll in any day since the start of the uprising.<ref name="Syria's Ramadan massacre" /> On 5 August 2011, an anti-government demonstration took place in Syria called "God is with us", during which the Syrian security forces shot the protesters from inside the ambulances, killing 11 people consequently.<ref name="alarabiya7" /> The Arab Spring events in Syria subsequently escalated into the Syrian Civil War.

==== Tunisia (2010–2011) ====
[[File:Tunisia Unrest - VOA - Tunis 14 Jan 2011 (2).jpg|thumb|Protesters on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, downtown Tunis on 14 January 2011, a few hours before president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country]]
Following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid, a series of increasingly violent street demonstrations through December 2010 ultimately led to the ousting of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on 14 January 2011. The demonstrations were preceded by high unemployment, food [[Finance:Inflation|inflation]], corruption,<ref name="Tunisia riots: Reform or be overthrown, US tells Arab states amid fresh riots" /> lack of [[Philosophy:Freedom of speech|freedom of speech]] and other forms of [[Social:Political freedom|political freedom]],<ref name="Tunisia's bitter cyberwar" /> and poor [[Social:Habitability|living conditions]]. The protests constituted the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades<ref name="protestwave" /><ref name="Tunisian president vows to punish rioters after worst unrest in a decade" /> and resulted in scores of deaths and injuries, most of which were the result of action by police and security forces against demonstrators. Ben Ali fled into exile in Saudi Arabia, ending his 23 years in power.<ref name="autogenerated4" />

A [[Social:State of emergency|state of emergency]] was declared and a caretaker coalition government was created following Ben Ali's departure, which included members of Ben Ali's party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), as well as opposition figures from other ministries. The five newly appointed non-RCD ministers resigned almost immediately.<ref name="threeministers" /><ref name="aljaz_protests_21jan" /> As a result of continued daily protests, on 27 January Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi reshuffled the government, removing all former RCD members other than himself, and on 6 February the former ruling party was suspended;<ref name="Tunisian minister suspends ex-ruling party" /> later, on 9 March, it was dissolved.<ref name="dissolution" /> Following further public protests, Ghannouchi himself resigned on 27 February, and Beji Caid Essebsi became Prime Minister.

On 23 October 2011 Tunisians voted in the first post-revolution election to elect representatives to a 217-member constituent assembly that would be responsible for the new constitution.<ref name="Tunisia elections seen as litmus test for Arab Spring" /> The leading Islamist party, Ennahda, won 37% of the vote, and elected 42 women to the Constituent Assembly.<ref name="Post-Revolution Tunisia attempts painful transition to democracy." />

On 26 January 2014 a new constitution was adopted.<ref name=adopted>{{cite news|title=New Tunisian Constitution Adopted|url=http://www.tunisia-live.net/2014/01/26/new-tunisian-constitution-adopted/|agency=Tunisia Live|date=26 January 2014|access-date=26 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127074508/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2014/01/26/new-tunisian-constitution-adopted/|archive-date=27 January 2014}}</ref> The constitution is seen as progressive, increasing human rights, gender equality, and government duties toward people, laying the groundwork for a new parliamentary system and making Tunisia a decentralized and [[Open government|open government]].<ref name=adopted /><ref name=beacon>{{cite news|title=Arab Spring beacon Tunisia signs new constitution|author=Tarek Amara p|date=27 January 2014|publisher=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tunisia-constitution-idUSBREA0Q0OU20140127|access-date=27 January 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128021557/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-tunisia-constitution-idUSBREA0Q0OU20140127|archive-date=28 January 2014}}</ref>

On 26 October 2014 Tunisia held its first parliamentary elections since the 2011 Arab Spring<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20140625141745/|title=Tunisie: les législatives fixées au 26 octobre et la présidentielle au 23 novembre|newspaper=Jeune Afrique|date=25 June 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318105230/http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20140625141745/|archive-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> and its presidential election on 23 November 2014,<ref>{{cite news|title=Tunisia holds first post-revolution presidential poll|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30165471|publisher=BBC News|access-date=23 November 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123033728/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30165471|archive-date=23 November 2014}}</ref> finishing its transition to a democratic state. These elections were characterized by a decline in Ennahdha's popularity in favor of the secular Nidaa Tounes party, which became the first party of the country.<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ar:النتائج النهائية للانتخابات التشريعية|trans-title=Final results of parliamentary elections|url=http://www.isie.tn/documents/Décision-Instance-supérieure-indépendante-pour-les-élections-relatives-proclamation-des-résultats-définitifs.pdf|language=ar|date=20 November 2014|access-date=21 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126183006/http://www.isie.tn/documents/D%C3%A9cision-Instance-sup%C3%A9rieure-ind%C3%A9pendante-pour-les-%C3%A9lections-relatives-proclamation-des-r%C3%A9sultats-d%C3%A9finitifs.pdf|archive-date=26 November 2014}}</ref>

==== United Arab Emirates (2011) ====
There were large protests against the government United Arab Emirates.<ref>{{Cite web |title=الاحتجاجات الإماراتية 2011 |url=https://www.marefa.org/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A9_2011 |access-date=2023-05-06 |publisher=المعرفة |language=ar}}</ref> In the United Arab Emirates, the Arab Spring saw a sudden and intense demand for democratic reforms. However, government repression of human rights, including unlawful detentions and torture, quelled the opposition and silenced dissenters. Even years after the Arab Spring uprisings, the Emirates remain in staunch opposition to free speech.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE2500182014ENGLISH.PDF|title='There is No Freedom Here': Silencing Dissent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)|access-date=17 November 2014|publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://advox.globalvoices.org/2016/09/20/the-uae-has-avoided-an-arab-spring-by-systematically-repressing-critical-speech/|title=The UAE Has Avoided an 'Arab Spring' by Systematically Repressing Critical Speech|access-date=20 September 2016|website=Global Voices Advox|date=20 September 2016}}</ref>

In 2011, 133 peaceful political activists — including academics and members of a social organization, Islah — signed a petition calling for democratic reforms. Submitted to the Emirati monarch rulers, the petition demanded elections, more legislative powers for the Federal National Council and an independent judiciary.<ref name=NYT-08-06-2013>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/world/middleeast/emirates-balk-at-activism-in-region-hit-by-uprisings.html|title=Emirates Balk at Activism in Region Hit by Uprisings|access-date=8 June 2013|website=The New York Times|date=8 June 2013|last1=Hubbard|first1=Ben}}</ref>

In 2012, the authorities arrested 94 of the 133 journalists, government officials, judges, lawyers, teachers and student activists, who were detained in secret detention facilities. For a year, until the trial began in March 2013, the 94 prisoners were subjected to [[Social:Forced disappearance|enforced disappearances]] and [[Philosophy:Torture|torture]]. As the "unfair" trial ended on 2 July 2013, 69 men were convicted on the basis of evidence acquired through forced confessions, and received harsh prison sentences of up to 15 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://icfuae.org.uk/press-releases/anniversary-%E2%80%9Cuae-94%E2%80%9D-trial-icfuae-calls-immediate-release-all-uae-prisoners|title=On the anniversary of the "UAE 94" trial, ICFUAE calls for the immediate release of all UAE prisoners of conscience|access-date=1 July 2021|publisher=International Campaign for Freedom in the United Arab Emirates (ICFUAE)}}</ref>

The case came to be known as "UAE-94", following which [[Philosophy:Freedom of speech|freedom of speech]] was further curbed. For years, these prisoners have been under arbitrary detention, with some "held in [[Social:Solitary confinement|incommunicado]], and denied their rights". In July 2021, ''Amnesty International'' called the UAE authorities to immediately release 60 prisoners of the UAE-94 case, who remained detained nine years after their arrest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/uae-nearly-a-decade-of-unjust-imprisonment-for-uae-94-dissidents/|title=UAE: Nearly a decade of unjust imprisonment for 'UAE-94' dissidents|access-date=2 July 2021|publisher=Amnesty International|date=2 July 2021}}</ref>

At least 51 prisoners, who were part of the "UAE-94" mass trial, were being imprisoned despite completing their sentences. Some prisoners completed their sentences in March 2023, while others completed it as early as July 2019. HRW said that those the prisoners continued to remain in prison without a proper legal basis, even after completing the sentences between one month and nearly four years before.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/12/uae-detainees-held-beyond-sentences|title=UAE: Detainees Held Beyond Sentences|access-date=12 April 2023|publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=12 April 2023 }}</ref>

Following the 2011 petition, the UAE authorities also arrested five prominent human rights defenders and government critics who did not sign the petition. All were pardoned the next day but have been facing a number of unfair acts of the government. One of the prominent Emirati activists, Ahmed Mansoor, reported being beaten twice since then. His passport was confiscated and nearly $140,000 were stolen from his personal bank account. Most of the human rights activists have been victims of the UAE government's intimidation for years.<ref name=NYT-08-06-2013 />

The authorities also exiled a local man to Thailand. He spoke out about the government.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jurist.org/news/2012/07/uae-activist-deported-to-thailand/ |title=UAE activist deported to Thailand |date=16 July 2012 }}</ref>

==== Yemen (2011) ====
[[File:Protest Aden Arab Spring 2011.jpg|thumb|Protestors in Aden calling for reinstatement of South Yemen during Arab Spring.]]
[[File:Yemeni Protests 4-Apr-2011 P01.JPG|thumb|Protests in Sana'a]]Protests occurred in many towns in both the north and south of Yemen starting in mid-January 2011. Demonstrators in the South mainly protested against President Saleh's support of Al Qaeda in [[Place:South Yemen|South Yemen]], the marginalization of the Southern people and the exploitation of Southern natural resources.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/21/wikileaks-cables-yemeni-general-smuggling|title=WikiLeaks cable links defecting Yemeni general to smuggling rackets|last=Rice-Oxley|first=Mark|date=2011-03-21|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-02-27|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE7201CI20110302|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227182008/https://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE7201CI20110302|archive-date=2019-02-27|title=Feature-South Yemen separatists find hope in spreading unrest|date=2011-03-02|publisher=Reuters|access-date=2019-02-27|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-07-11/yemen-tie-binds|title=Yemen: The tie that binds|publisher=Public Radio International|language=en|access-date=2019-02-27}}</ref> Other parts of the country initially protested against governmental proposals to modify the constitution of Yemen, unemployment and economic conditions,<ref name="afreuters" /> and corruption,<ref name="People are fed up" /> but their demands soon included a call for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh,<ref name="People are fed up" /><ref name="NADA BAKRI" /> who had been facing internal opposition from his closest advisors since 2009.<ref name="urge leader" />

A major demonstration of over 16,000 protesters took place in [[Place:Sana'a|Sana'a]] on 27 January 2011,<ref name="Irish Times breaking26" /> and soon thereafter human rights activist and politician [[Biography:Tawakkol Karman|Tawakel Karman]] called for a "Day of Rage" on 3 February.<ref name="Feb3_DayRage_aljaz" /> According to ''Xinhua News'', organizers were calling for a million protesters.<ref name="Yemen reinforces forces around capital amid fear of protest escalation" /> In response to the planned protest, Ali Abdullah Saleh stated that he would not seek another presidential term in 2013.<ref name="Yemeni president signals he won't stay beyond 2013" />

On 3 February, 20,000 protesters demonstrated against the government in Sana'a,<ref name="latimes_3feb_20k" /><ref name="bbc_20k" /> others participated in a "Day of Rage" in Aden<ref name="aljaz_aden" /> that was called for by Tawakel Karman,<ref name="Feb3_DayRage_aljaz" /> while soldiers, armed members of the General People's Congress, and many protestors held a pro-government rally in Sana'a.<ref name="oneindia_armedGPC_progov" /> Concurrent with the resignation of Egyptian president Mubarak, Yemenis again took to the streets protesting President Saleh on 11 February, in what has been dubbed a "Friday of Rage".<ref name="YEMEN: Protests revived in 'Friday of Rage'" /> The protests continued in the days following despite clashes with government advocates.<ref name="Protests rage in Yemen, Bahrain; Iran hard-liners want foes executed" /> In a "Friday of Anger" held on 18 February, tens of thousands of Yemenis took part in anti-government demonstrations in the major cities of Sana'a, Taiz, and [[Place:Aden|Aden]]. Protests continued over the following months, especially in the three major cities, and briefly intensified in late May into urban warfare between Hashid tribesmen and army defectors allied with the opposition on one side and security forces and militias loyal to Saleh on the other.<ref name="Analysis: Yemen civil war likely without swift Saleh exit" />

After Saleh pretended to accept a [[Organization:Gulf Cooperation Council|Gulf Cooperation Council]]-brokered plan allowing him to cede power in exchange for immunity from prosecution only to back away before signing three separate times,<ref name="Yemen's Saleh Agrees to Step Down in Exchange for Immunity, Official Says" /><ref name="Aus2-5" /> an assassination attempt on 3 June left him and several other high-ranking Yemeni officials injured by a blast in the presidential compound's mosque.<ref name="assassing" /> Saleh was evacuated to Saudi Arabia for treatment and handed over power to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who largely continued his policies<ref name="Yemen crisis: One-way ticket for Saleh?" /> and ordered the arrest of several Yemenis in connection with the attack on the presidential compound.<ref name="assassing" /> While in Saudi Arabia, Saleh kept hinting that he could return any time and continued to be present in the political sphere through television appearances from [[Place:Riyadh|Riyadh]] starting with an address to the Yemeni people on 7 July.<ref name="Saleh appears on Yemen TV, bandaged and burnt" /> On 13 August, a demonstration was announced in Yemen as "Mansouron Friday" in which hundreds of thousands of Yemenis called for Saleh to go. The protesters joining the "Mansouron Friday" were calling for establishment of "a new Yemen".<ref name="alghad" /> On 12 September Saleh issued a presidential decree while still receiving treatment in Riyadh authorizing Hadi to negotiate a deal with the opposition and sign the GCC initiative.<ref name="Yemen president authorizes deputy to negotiate power transfer" />

On 23 September, three months since the assassination attempt, Saleh returned to Yemen abruptly, defying all earlier expectations.<ref name="Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh returns to Sanaa" /> Pressure on Saleh to sign the GCC initiative eventually led to his doing so in Riyadh on 23 November. Saleh thereby agreed to step down and set the stage for the transfer of power to his vice president.<ref name="Yemeni President Saleh signs deal on ceding power" /> A presidential election was then held on 21 February 2012, in which Hadi (the only candidate) won 99.8% of the vote.<ref name="February 2012" /> Hadi then took the oath of office in Yemen's parliament on 25 February.<ref name="bbc" /> By 27 February Saleh had resigned from the presidency and transferred power to Hadi.<ref name="Yemen's Saleh formally steps down after 33 years" /> The replacement government was overthrown by Houthi rebels on 22 January 2015, starting the [[Social:Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)|Yemeni Civil War]] and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.

== Outcomes ==
=== Arab Winter ===
In the aftermath of the Arab Spring in various countries, there was a wave of violence and instability commonly known as the Arab Winter<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/9753123/Middle-East-review-of-2012-the-Arab-Winter.html|title=Middle East review of 2012: the Arab Winter|date=31 December 2012|work=The Daily Telegraph|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424065729/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/9753123/Middle-East-review-of-2012-the-Arab-Winter.html|archive-date=24 April 2014}}</ref> or Islamist Winter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/12/the-arab-spring-descends-into-islamist-winter-implications-for-us-policy|title=Arab Spring into Islamist Winter: Implications for U.S. Policy|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030181832/http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/12/the-arab-spring-descends-into-islamist-winter-implications-for-us-policy|archive-date=30 October 2014}}</ref> The Arab Winter was characterized by extensive civil wars, general regional instability, economic and demographic decline of the Arab League and overall religious wars between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

[[File:Libyan Civil War.svg|thumb|Areas of control in the Second Libyan Civil War (2014–2020)]]
Although the long-term effects of the Arab Spring have yet to be shown, its short-term consequences varied greatly across the Middle East and North Africa. In Tunisia and Egypt, where the existing regimes were ousted and replaced through a process of free and fair election, the revolutions were considered short-term successes.<ref name="Demystifying the Arab Spring">{{cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Lisa|title=Demystifying the Arab Spring: Parsing the Differences Between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya|journal=Foreign Affairs|date=May 2011|volume=90|issue=3|pages=2–7}}</ref><ref name="The Arab Spring Revisited">{{cite journal|last1=Haseeb|first1=Khair El-Din|title=The Arab Spring Revisited|journal=Contemporary Arab Affairs|date=13 March 2012|volume=5|issue=2|pages=185–197|doi=10.1080/17550912.2012.673384}}</ref><ref name="What Explains Successful Protest Cascades?">{{cite journal|last1=Hussain|first1=Muzammil M|last2=Howard|first2=Philip N|title=What Explains Successful Protest Cascades? ICTs and the Fuzzy Causes of the Arab Spring|journal=International Studies Review|date=2013|volume=15|pages=48–66|doi=10.1111/misr.12020|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97489/1/misr12020.pdf|hdl=2027.42/97489|hdl-access=free}}</ref> This interpretation is, however, problematized by the subsequent political turmoil that emerged, particularly in Egypt. Elsewhere, most notably in the monarchies of Morocco and the Persian Gulf, existing regimes co-opted the Arab Spring movement and managed to maintain order without significant social change.<ref name="Reconsidering the Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East">{{cite journal|last1=Bellin|first1=Eva|title=Reconsidering the Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Lessons from the Arab Spring|journal=Comparative Politics|date=January 2012|volume=44|issue=2|pages=127–149|jstor=23211807|doi=10.5129/001041512798838021}}</ref><ref name="Morocco: Smart Authoritarianism Refined">{{cite book|last1=Kausch|first1=Kristina|editor1-last=Emerson|editor1-first=Michael|editor2-last=Youngs|editor2-first=Richard|title=Democracy's Plight in the European Neighbourhood: Struggling Transitions and Proliferating Dynasties|date=2009|publisher=Centre for European Policy Studies|location=Brussels|isbn=978-92-9079-926-9|pages=140–147|chapter=Morocco: Smart Authoritarianism Refined}}</ref> In other countries, particularly Syria and Libya, the apparent result of Arab Spring protests was a complete [[Social:Societal collapse|societal collapse]].<ref name="Demystifying the Arab Spring" />{{Failed verification|date=April 2021|talk=Societal collapse|reason=The referenced article makes no mention of Syria, or societal collapse.}}

Social scientists have endeavored to understand the circumstances that led to this variation in outcome. A variety of causal factors have been highlighted, most of which hinge on the relationship between the strength of the state and the strength of civil society. Countries with stronger civil society networks in various forms underwent more successful reforms during the Arab Spring; these findings are also consistent with more general social science theories such as those espoused by Robert D. Putnam and Joel S. Migdal.<ref name="Strong Societies and Weak States">{{cite book|last1=Migdal|first1=Joel S|title=Strong Societies and Weak States: State-Society Relations and State Capabilities in the Third World|date=1988|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0-691-01073-1}}</ref><ref name="Bowling Alone">{{cite book|last1=Putnam|first1=Robert D|title=Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community|date=2001|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7432-0304-3}}</ref>

One of the primary influences that have been highlighted in the analysis of the Arab Spring is the relative strength or weakness of a society's formal and informal [[Social:Institution|institution]]s prior to the revolts. When the Arab Spring began, Tunisia had an established infrastructure and a lower level of petty corruption than did other states, such as Libya.<ref name="Demystifying the Arab Spring" /> This meant that, following the overthrow of the existing regime, there was less work to be done in reforming Tunisian institutions than elsewhere, and consequently it was less difficult to transition to and consolidate a democratic system of government.<ref name="Reconsidering the Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=North|first1=Douglass C|title=Transaction costs, institutions, and economic performance|date=1992|publisher=ICS Press|location=San Francisco|page=13}}</ref>

Also crucial was the degree of state censorship over print, broadcast, and social media in different countries. Television coverage by channels like Al Jazeera and BBC News provided worldwide exposure and prevented mass violence by the Egyptian government in Tahrir Square, contributing to the success of the Egyptian Revolution. In other countries, such as Libya, Bahrain, and Syria, such international press coverage was not present to the same degree, and the governments of these countries were able to act more freely in suppressing the protests.<ref>Hearns-Branaman, Jesse Owen (2012), 'The Egyptian Revolution did not take place: On live television coverage by Al Jazeera English', ''International Journal of Baudrillard Studies'' Vol 9, no 1 {{cite web|url=https://www.ubishops.ca/baudrillardstudies/vol-9_1/v9-1-branaman.html|title=IJBS - Volume 9-1 January 2012|access-date=17 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321094852/http://www.ubishops.ca/baudrillardstudies/vol-9_1/v9-1-branaman.html|archive-date=21 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="YEAR IN PICTURES: Arab Spring" /> Strong authoritarian regimes with high degrees of censorship in their national broadcast media were able to block communication and prevent the domestic spread of information necessary for successful protests.

Countries with greater access to social media, such as Tunisia and Egypt, proved more effective in mobilizing large groups of people, and appear to have been more successful overall than those with greater state control over media.<ref name="What Explains Successful Protest Cascades?" /><ref name="The Revolutions Were Tweeted">{{cite journal|last1=Lotan|first1=Gilad|last2=Graeff|first2=Erhardt|last3=Ananny|first3=Mike|last4=Gaffney|first4=Devin|last5=Pearce|first5=Ian|last6=Boyd|first6=Danah|title=The Revolutions Were Tweeted: Information Flows During the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions|journal=International Journal of Communication|date=2011|volume=5|pages=1375–1405}}</ref><ref name="Role of the New Media in the Arab Spring">{{cite journal|last1=Khondker|first1=Habibul Haque|title=Role of the New Media in the Arab Spring|journal=Globalizations|date=October 2011|volume=8|issue=5|pages=675–679|doi=10.1080/14747731.2011.621287|bibcode=2011Glob....8..675K |s2cid=143933742}}</ref> Although social media played a large role in shaping the events of revolutions social activism did not occur in a vacuum. Without the use of street level organization social activists would not have been as effective.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Comunello|first1=Francesca|last2=Anzera|first2=Giuseppe|title=Will the revolution be tweeted? A conceptual framework for understanding the social median the Arab Spring|journal=Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations|date=2012|volume=23|issue=4|pages=454–470|doi=10.1080/09596410.2012.712435|hdl=11573/483810 |s2cid=145674761}}</ref> Even though a revolution did take place and the prior government has been replaced, Tunisia's government can not conclude that another uprising will not take place. There are still many grievances taking place today.<ref>Fahmy, Nabil. "Managing compromise in Middle East – Managing compromise in Middle East." ''Daily Star, The (Beirut, Lebanon)'' 25 Oct. 2016, Commentary: 7. ''NewsBank''. Web. 24 October 2016.</ref>

Due to tourism coming to a halt and other factors during the revolution and Arab Spring movement, the budget deficit has grown and unemployment has risen since 2011.<ref name="Tunisia Overview">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/tunisia/overview|title=Tunisia Overview|publisher=The World Bank|access-date=2016-10-27|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009073603/http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/tunisia/overview|archive-date=9 October 2016}}</ref> According to the [[Organization:World Bank|World Bank]] in 2016, "Unemployment remains at 15.3% from 16.7% in 2011, but still well above the pre-revolution level of 13%."<ref name="Tunisia Overview" /> Large scale emigration brought on by a long and treacherous civil war has permanently harmed the Syrian economy. Projections for economic contraction will remain high at almost 7% in 2017.<ref>"East Med." Middle East Monitor: East Med 26.11 (2016): 1–8. Business Source Complete. Web. 18 November 2016.</ref>

[[File:Anti-coup protesters with R4bia sign in Nasr City-Cairo 11-Oct-2013.jpg|thumb|Demonstrators holding the Rabia sign in solidarity with the victims of the August 2013 Rabaa massacre of pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo]]
Still to this day, in countries affected by the Arab Spring, there is great division amongst those who prefer the status quo and those who want democratic change. As these regions dive ever deeper into political conflict time will show if new ideas can be established or if old institutions will still stand strong.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aras|first1=Bülent|last2=Falk|first2=Richard|year=2016|title=Five years after the Arab Spring: a critical evaluation|journal=Third World Quarterly|volume=37|issue=12|pages=2252–2258|doi=10.1080/01436597.2016.1224087|s2cid=157515537}}</ref> The largest change from the pre-revolution to the post-revolution was in the attempt to break up political elites and reshape the geopolitical structure of the middle east. It is speculated that many of the changes brought on by the Arab Spring will lead to a shifting of regional power in the Middle East and a quickly changing structure of power.<ref>Aras, Bülent, and Emirhan Yorulmazlar. "State, Region And Order: Geopolitics of the Arab Spring." Third World Quarterly 37.12 (2016): 2259–2273. Business Source Complete. Web. 18 November 2016.</ref>

The support, even if tacit, of national military forces during protests has also been correlated to the success of the Arab Spring movement in different countries.<ref name="The Arab Spring Revisited" /><ref name="Reconsidering the Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East" /> In Egypt and Tunisia, the military actively participated in ousting the incumbent regime and in facilitating the transition to democratic elections. Countries like Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, exhibited a strong mobilization of military force against protesters, effectively ending the revolts in their territories; others, including Libya and Syria, failed to stop the protests entirely and instead ended up in civil war.<ref name="The Arab Spring Revisited" /> The support of the military in Arab Spring protests has also been linked to the degree of ethnic homogeneity in different societies. In Saudi Arabia and Syria, where the ruling elite was closely linked with ethnic or religious subdivisions of society, the military sided with the existing regime and took on the ostensible role of protector to minority populations.<ref name="Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring">{{cite journal|last1=Gause III|first1=F. Gregory|title=Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring: The Myth of Authoritarian Stability|journal=Foreign Policy|date=July 2011|volume=90|issue=4|pages=81–90|jstor=23039608}}</ref>

The presence of a strong, educated middle class has been noted as a correlate to the success of the Arab Spring in different countries.<ref name="Why was the Arab World Poised for Revolution?">{{cite journal|last1=Campante|first1=Filipe R|last2=Chor|first2=David|s2cid=41753996|title=Why was the Arab World Poised for Revolution? Schooling, Economic Opportunities, and the Arab Spring|journal=The Journal of Economic Perspectives|date=Spring 2012|volume=26|issue=2|pages=167–187|jstor=41495309|doi=10.1257/jep.26.2.167|url=https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/1429|doi-access=free}}</ref> Countries with strong welfare programs and a weak middle class, such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as well as countries with great economic disparity and an impoverished working class—including Yemen, Libya, and Morocco—did not experience successful revolutions. The strength of the middle class is, in turn, directly connected to the existing political, economic, and educational institutions in a country, and the middle class itself may be considered an informal institution.<ref name="Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth">{{cite book|last1=Acemoglu|first1=Daron|last2=Johnson|first2=Simon|last3=Robinson|first3=James|editor1-last=Aghion|editor1-first=Philippe|editor2-last=Durlauf|editor2-first=Steven N|title=Handbook of Economic Growth, Volume 1A|date=4 January 2006|publisher=North-Holland|isbn=978-0-444-52041-8|pages=385–472|chapter=Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth}}</ref> In very broad terms, this may be reframed in terms of development, as measured by various indicators such as the [[Engineering:Human Development Index|Human Development Index]]: [[Social:Rentier state|rentier state]]s such as the oil monarchies of the Persian Gulf exhibited less successful revolutions overall.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ruach|first1=James E|last2=Kostyshak|first2=Scott|date=Summer 2009|title=The Three Arab Worlds|doi=10.1257/jep.23.3.165|journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives|volume=23|issue=3|pages=165–188|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Charting what he calls the 'new masses' of the twenty-first century, Sociologist Göran Therborn draws attention to the historical contradictory role of the middle class. The Egyptian middle class has illustrated this ambivalence and contradiction in 2011 and 2013: "The volatility of middle-class politics is vividly illustrated by the sharp turns in Egypt, from acclamation of democracy to adulation of the military and its mounting repression of dissent, effectively condoning the restoration of the ancien régime minus Mubarak.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://newleftreview.org/II/85/goran-therborn-new-masses|author=Göran Therborn|title=New Masses|date=2014|journal=New Left Review |issue=85|pages=7–16 }}</ref>

=== Long-term aftermath ===
==== Sectarianism and collapse of state systems ====
[[File:Months after an airstrike on a neighborhood populated by black Yemenis or "Muhamasheen" more than a hundred buildings still remain in rubble and survivors continue to search for any valuables - Sanaa - Yemen - Oct-9-2015.png|thumb|Yemeni capital Sanaa after Saudi Arabian-led airstrikes against the Shia Houthis, October 2015]]
Some trends in political Islam resulting from the Arab Spring noted by observers (Quinn Mecham and Tarek Osman) include:
*Repression of the Muslim Brotherhood, not only in Egypt by the military and courts following the forcible removal of Morsi from office in 2013; but also by Saudi Arabia and a number of Gulf countries (not Qatar).<ref name=Mecham>{{cite news|last1=Mecham|first1=Quinn|title=The evolution of Islamism since the Arab uprisings|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/10/24/the-evolution-of-islamism-since-the-arab-uprisings/|access-date=28 October 2015|agency=Washington Post|date=24 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012165755/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/10/24/the-evolution-of-islamism-since-the-arab-uprisings/|archive-date=12 October 2015}}</ref><ref name=brookings>{{cite web|title=Rethinking Political Islam |url=http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2015/08/rethinking-political-islam |publisher=Brookings|access-date=29 October 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151028184139/http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2015/08/rethinking-political-islam|archive-date=28 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="Islam Hassan">{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/12696782|title=GCC's 2014 Crisis: Causes, Issues and Solutions|journal=Gulf Cooperation Council's Challenges and Prospects|author=Islam Hassan|date=31 March 2015|publisher=Al Jazeera Research Center|access-date=4 June 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904020157/http://www.academia.edu/12696782/GCCs_2014_Crisis_Causes_Issues_and_Solutions|archive-date=4 September 2015}}</ref> The ambassadors crisis also seriously threatened the GCC's activities, adversely affected its functioning and could arguably even have led to its dissolution.<ref name="Islam Hassan" />
*Rise of Islamist "[[Social:State-building|state-building]]" where "state failure" has taken place—most prominently in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Islamists have found it easier than competing non-Islamists trying to fill the void of state failure, by securing external funding, weaponry and fighters – "many of which have come from abroad and have rallied around a pan-Islamic identity". The norms of governance in these Islamist areas are militia-based, and the governed submit to their authority out of fear, loyalty, other reasons, or some combination.<ref name=Mecham /> The "most expansive" of these new "models" is the [[Religion:Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]].<ref name=Mecham />
*Increasing sectarianism (primarily Sunni-Shia) at least in part from [[Social:Proxy war|proxy war]]s and the escalation of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict. Islamists are fighting Islamists across sectarian lines in Lebanon (Sunni militants targeting Hezbollah positions), Yemen (between mainstream Sunni Islamists of al-Islah and the Shiite Zaydi Houthi movement), in Iraq (Islamic State and Iraqi Shiite militias).<ref name=Mecham />
*Increased caution and political learning in countries such as Algeria and Jordan where Islamists have chosen not to lead a major challenge against their governments. In Yemen, al-Islah "has sought to frame its ideology in a way that will avoid charges of militancy".<ref name=Mecham />
*In countries where Islamists did choose to lead a major challenge and did not succeed in transforming society (particularly Egypt), a disinterest in "soul-searching" about what went wrong, in favor of "antagonism and fiery anger" and a thirst for revenge. Partisans of political Islam (although this does not include some prominent leaders such as Rached Ghannouchi but is particularly true in Egypt) see themselves as victims of an injustice whose perpetrators are not just "individual conspirators but entire social groups".<ref name="osman-2016-244">{{cite book|last1=Osman|first1=Tarek|title=Islamism: What It Means for the Middle East and the World|date=2016|publisher=Yale University Press|page=244|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vKZ5CwAAQBAJ&q=islamism+osman|access-date=18 October 2016|isbn=978-0-300-19772-3}}</ref>
"The repercussions of the 2011 uprisings have influenced Middle Eastern youth's experiences providing impetus for questioning perennial sacred beliefs and positions, and forging ahead avant-garde views and responses to the constraints they face."<ref name="Hassan and Dyer" />

Contrary to the common discourse, Hussein Agha and Robert Malley from The New Yorker argue that the divide in the post-Arab Spring in the Middle East is not sectarianism:

{{blockquote|The bloodiest, most vicious, and most pertinent struggles occur squarely inside the Sunni world. Sectarianism is a politically expedient fable, conveniently used to cover up old-fashioned power struggles, maltreatment of minorities, and cruel totalitarian practices.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Agha|first1=Hussein|last2=Malley|first2=Robert|title=''The Middle East's Great Divide is not Sectarianism''|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-middle-easts-great-divide-is-not-sectarianism/amp|access-date=31 March 2019|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=11 March 2019}}</ref>}}

Agha and Malley point out that even in Syria there has been a misrepresentation of the conflict, that the Assad regime relied on an alliance that included middle class Sunnis along with other religious minorities. Prior to the uprising, the Syrian regime enjoyed some financial and political support from Sunni Gulf states. The "select rich urban bourgeoisie, the Sunni Damascene in particular", according to Tokyo University researcher Housam Darwisheh, "now has a direct interest in preserving stability and their relations with the regime as long as their businesses prosper."<ref>{{cite web|last=Darwisheh|first=Housam|url=https://ir.ide.go.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=37785&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1&page_id=39&block_id=158|title=From Authoritarianism to Upheaval: the Political Economy of the Syrian Uprising and Regime Persistence|year=2013|publisher=Institute of Developing Economics, Japan|access-date=31 March 2019}}</ref> In the view of the Arab sociologist Halim Barakat, "the persistence of communal cleavages complicates rather than nullifies social class consciousness and struggles."<ref>{{cite book|url=http://intersci.ss.uci.edu/wiki/eBooks/MidEast/BOOKS/The%20Arab%20World%20Barakat.pdf |last=Barakat|first=Halim|title=''The Arab World: Society, Culture and State''|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=1993|page=19}}</ref>

==== Second Arab Spring (Arab Summer) ====
{{Excerpt|Arab  Summer}}

== Arab Spring: Revolution or reform ==
Very few analysts of the Arab societies foresaw a mass movement on such a scale that might threaten the existing order. In his 1993 sociological study of the Arab societies, culture and state, Barakat stated confidently that "one should expect the first Arab popular revolution to take place in Egypt or Tunisia. This does not, however, exclude the possibility that revolutions may occur in more pluralistic societies as well."{{sfn|Barakat|1993|pages=15–17}} What was prevalent, according to the Syrian writer and political dissident Yassin al-Haj Saleh was three 'springs' that ensured the status quo. One of which was a "spring of despotic states that receive assistance and legitimacy from a world system centered around stability".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yassinhs.com/2016/02/19/syria-and-the-world-reactionarism-is-back-and-progressing|last=al-Haj Saleh|first=Yassin|date=19 February 2016|access-date=15 April 2019|title=Syria and the World: Reactionarism is Back, and Progressing}}</ref> Most democracy protests do not result in reforms.<ref>Dawn Brancati. 2016. ''Democracy Protests: Origins, Features, and Significance.'' New York: Cambridge University Press.</ref>

Two months into the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, ''[[Finance:The Economist|The Economist]]'' magazine in a leader article spoke about a new generation of young people, idealists, "inspired by democracy", which made revolutions. Those revolutions, the article stated, "are going the right way, with a hopeful new mood prevailing and free elections in the offing".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2011/03/31/islam-and-the-arab-revolutions|title=Islam and the Arab revolutions|date=31 March 2011|magazine=The Economist|access-date=16 April 2019}}</ref> For those on the streets of Egypt the predominant slogan was "bread, freedom and social justice".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mediterraneanaffairs.com/bread-freedom-and-social-justice|title=Bread, freedom and social justice|publisher=Mediterranean Affairs|date=5 February 2015|access-date=16 April 2019}}</ref>

Some observers, however, have questioned the revolutionary nature of the 'Arab Spring'. A social theorist specialising in social movements and social change in the Middle East, Asef Bayat, has provided an analysis based on his decades-long of research as "a participant-observer" (in his own words). In his appraisal of the Arab revolutions, Bayat discerns a remarkable difference between these revolutions and the revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s in countries like Yemen, Nicaragua and Iran. The Arab revolutions, argues Bayat, "lacked any associated intellectual anchor" and the predominant voices, "secular and Islamists alike, took free market, property relations, and neoliberal rationality for granted" and uncritically.<ref name="Bayat">{{harvnb|Bayat|2017|p=11}}</ref> New social movements' define themselves as horizontal networks with aversion to the state and central authority. Thus their "political objective is not to capture the state", a fundamental feature in the twentieth-century revolutionary movements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/63903/1/MahaAbdelrahman_Social%20movements-2015.pdf|last=Abdelrahman|first=Maha|title=Social Movement and the Quest for Organisation: Egypt and Everywhere|publisher=LSE Middle East Centre Paper Series, 08|date=September 2015|pages=6–7|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref> Instead of revolution or reform, Bayat speaks of 'refolution'.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://newleftreview.org/issues/II80/articles/asef-bayat-revolution-in-bad-times|last=Bayat|first=Asef|title=Revolution in Bad Times|journal=New Left Review|issue=80 |date=March–April 2013|pages=47–60 |access-date=15 April 2019}}</ref>

Wael Ghonim, an Internet activist who would later gain an international fame, acknowledged that what he had intended by founding a Facebook page was a "simple reaction to the events in Tunisia" and that "there was no master plans or strategies" a priori.<ref>{{cite book|title=''Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People is Greater than People in Power''|last=Ghonim|first=Wael|date=2012|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=New York|language=en-US|pages=204–205}}</ref> That the objective was reform to be achieved through peaceful means and not revolution was explicitly put forward by April 6 Movement, one of the leading forces of the Egyptian uprising, in their statements. It called for "coalition and co-operation between all factions and national forces to reach the reform and the peaceful change of the conditions of Egypt".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://shabab6april.wordpress.com/about/shabab-6-april-youth-movement-about-us-in-english|title=about us (see reply in comments)|year=2011|publisher=shabab6april.wordpress.com|access-date=7 April 2019}}</ref> "Even in Tahrir Square with so many people and the rising level of demands," recalls an activist in the movement, "we were very surprised by the people wanting the downfall of the regime; and not a single one of us had expected this."<ref>{{cite book|title=''Thawra 25 January: Qira'a Awwaliyya wa Ru'ya Mustaqbaliyya (January 25 Revolution: An Initial Interpretation and Future Prospect)''|last=Hashem Rabi'|first=Amr|date=2011|publisher=Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Cairo|language=ar|page=429}}</ref> In comparing the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, researcher Housam Darwisheh concludes: "The Egyptian uprising, in neither dismantling the ancien regime nor creating new institutional mechanisms to lead the transition, permitted the so-called 'deep state' to reassert itself while the deepening polarization led many non-Islamists to side with the military against the MB [the Muslim Brotherhood]."<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://ir.ide.go.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=37719&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1&page_id=39&block_id=158|last=Darwisheh|first=Housam|date=2014|title=Trajectories and Outcomes: Comparing Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria|journal=IDE Discussion Paper|volume=456|publisher=Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization|access-date=8 April 2019|page=10}}</ref>

According to Cambridge sociologist Hazem Kandil, the Muslim Brotherhood did not aim at taking power during the events leading up to the toppling of Mubarak. The biggest and most organised organisation in Egypt in fact negotiated with the regime in "infamous talks between Morsi and the then vice-president Omar Suleiman", and "an informal deal was reached: withdraw your members from Tahrir Square, and we allow you to form a political party." Then the Brotherhood wavered whether to file a presidential candidate and did not push for a new constitution, choosing to work with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF):

{{blockquote|The Brotherhood and the Salafists went all-out to keep the existing constitution—originating under Sadat— with a few amendments. The result was irrelevant, because the military scrapped the old constitution anyway. But the Brothers managed to persuade over 70 per cent of the voters, so it became clear to the military that they had far more sway on the street than the secular revolutionaries who had brought down Mubarak, yet seemed incapable of much organization once they had done so. For SCAF, the priority was to bring the street under control, so it decided to start working with the Brotherhood to stabilize the country.<ref>{{cite journal|last=kandil|first=Hazem|url=https://newleftreview.org/issues/II102/articles/hazem-kandil-sisi-s-egypt.pdf|title=Sisi's Egypt|journal=New Left Review |date=November–December 2016|issue=102|pages=29–30}}</ref>}}

George Lawson from the [[Organization:London School of Economics|London School of Economics]] places the Arab uprisings within the post-Cold War world. He characterises the uprisings as "largely unsuccessful revolution" and that they "bare a family resemblance to the 'negotiated revolutions'... Negotiated revolutions ... seek to transform political and symbolic fields of action, but without a concomitant commitment to a program of economic transformation."<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/63156/1/Lawson_Revolution%2C%20non-violence.pdf|last=Lawson|first=George|title=''Revolution, non-violence, and the Arab Uprisings''|journal=Mobilization: An International Quarterly |year=2015|issn=1086-671X|page=24|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref> In this 'negotiated revolution', comments Bayat, "revolutionaries had in effect little part in the 'negotiations'."{{sfn|Bayat|2017|p=161}} What has been treated by some analysts as intellectual weakness of the revolutionary movement is partly due to the pre-2011 stifling cultural environment under repressive regimes. Although Egyptian intellectuals enjoyed a bigger margin of freedom than their counterparts in Tunisia, cultural figures sought protection from political players, and instead of leading criticism, they complied.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mafhoum.com/press/53C33.htm|last=Mehrez|first=Samia|title=Take Them Out of the Ball Game|publisher=Middle East Report 219|date=Summer 2001|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref>

The post-Cold War era saw the emergence of the idea and practice of gradual reform and liberal agenda. It saw an influx of humanitarian projects, NGOs and charity work, liberal think tanks and emphasis on [[Social:Civil society|civil society]] work. This new juncture seemed to have made the idea and prospect of revolution an outdated project. The focus instead shifted to individual freedoms and [[Social:Free market|free market]]. The new idea of [[Social:Civil society|civil society]] was different from the kind of civil society [[Biography:Antonio Gramsci|Antonio Gramsci]], for instance, envisaged: 'a revolution before the revolution'.

In her field study in Yemen, anthropologist Bogumila Hall depicts the effects of what she terms as "the marketization of civil society and its heavy reliance on donors", which "led to a largely depoliticized form of activism that by passed, rather than confronted, the state". Hall, with her focus on the ''muhammashīn'' (the marginalized) in Yemen, described how in the 1990s and 2000s international NGOs established charity projects and workshops "to teach slum dwellers new skills and behaviours". But, besides the "modest changes" brought by the NGOs, concludes Hall, "delegating the problem of the ''muhammashīn'' to the realm of development and poverty alleviation, without addressing the structural causes underlying their marginalisation, had a depoliticising effect. It led to a widely held assumption, also shared by the ''muhammashīn'', that ending marginalisation was a matter for experts and administrative measures, not politics."<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://journals.openedition.org/cy/3427?lang=en#text|access-date=8 April 2019|last=Hall|first=Bogumila|date=2017|title=This is our homeland": Yemen's marginalized and the quest for rights and recognition|journal=Arabian Humanities |issue=9|doi=10.4000/cy.3427|doi-access=free}}</ref>

When Arab regimes viewed NGOs' leaders and other similar organisations with suspicion, accusing Western governments of providing funding and training to 'illegal organisations' and fomenting revolution, diplomatic cables reported "how American officials frequently assured skeptical governments that the training was aimed at reform, not promoting revolutions".<ref>{{cite news|last=Nixon|first=Ron|title=U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/world/15aid.html|access-date=10 April 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 April 2011}}</ref> And when the Egyptian uprising was gaining its momentum, the American president [[Biography:Barack Obama|Barack Obama]] "did not suggest that the 82-year-old leader step aside or transfer power... the argument was that he really needed to do the reforms, and do them fast. Former ambassador to Egypt (Frank G.) Wisner publicly suggested that Mr. Mubarak had to be at the center of any change, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned that any transition would take time."<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|title=Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook the Arab History|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/world/middleeast/14egypt-tunisia-protests.html|access-date=10 April 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 February 2011}}</ref> Some activists, who read the American thinker and nonviolence advocate Gene Sharp, obtained training from foreign bodies, including the Serbian opposition movement Otpor!, and April 6 Movement modelled its logo after Otpor's.<ref name="nytimes.com" /> Otpor, writes Bayat in his discussion of the agencies of the Arab Spring activism in Tunisia and Egypt, obtained funds from well-known American organisations such as the American National Endowment for Democracy, USAID, and the International Republican Institute. Thus Otpur, in line with these organisations' advocacies, "pushed for political reform through nonradical, electoral, and market-driven language and practices".{{sfn|Bayat|2017|p=177}}

Early 2019 witnessed two uprisings: one in Algeria and another in Sudan. In Algeria under pressure of weeks of protests, the head of the army forced the ailing twenty-year-serving president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to abdicate. In Sudan, after four months of protests, the Sudani defense minister ousted longtime President Omar al-Bashir in a coup.<ref>{{cite news|title=Omar al-Bashir ousted: How Sudan got there|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47892742|access-date=13 April 2019|publisher=BBC News |date=11 April 2019}}</ref> Writing about what he calls "a rebirth of Tahrir Square", the prominent Lebanese novelist and critic Elias Khoury, averred that "perhaps the secret of the Arab Spring lies not in its victories or defeats, but in its ability to liberate people from fear." Despite the "faded spirit of Tahrir Square" and an outcome that Khoury describes as a "monarchy that abrogates legal standards", a renaissance of resistance is unstoppable:

{{blockquote|The defeat of the Arab Spring has seemed likely to extinguish this glimmer of hope, to return the Arab world to the tyrannical duopoly of military and oil and to crush the will of the people in the struggle between Sunni and Shia, between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The combination has thrown the region into Israelʹs lap. But the defeat cannot and will not stop the renaissance. If the Arab world has reached rock bottom, it canʹt go any lower and it canʹt last forever.<ref>{{cite web|last=Khoury|first=Elias|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/elias-khoury-on-the-arab-spring-2019-the-re-birth-of-tahrir-square?nopaging=1|title=The Rebirth of Tahrir Square|year=2019|publisher=Qantara.de |access-date=12 April 2019}}</ref>}}

There was a need, suggested Khoury, to turn "the uprisings of the Arab Spring into an intellectual, political and moral project that gives meaning to the goals of freedom, democracy and social justice". From the outset the 2011 Arab uprisings raised the banner of 'social justice'. The concept, what it means and how to achieve it has been a major subject of discussion and contention since then.

=== Social justice ===
In its economic and social manifesto, the Tunisian Ennahda Movement states that the movement "adopts the social and solidarised market economy within a national approach based on free economic activity, freedom of ownership, production and administration on the one hand, and social justice and equal opportunities on the other hand" and that "national capital has to be the axis in the development process."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ennahdha.tn/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%91%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9|title=اللائحة الاقتصادية الاجتمعاية |publisher=ennahda.tn|language=ar|access-date=17 April 2019}}</ref> The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt mainly focuses on "reform of existing political systems in the Arab world. It embraces the idea of political activism and social responsibility, organising charitable works and social support programmes as part of its outreach to its core support base of lower-income populations."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/06/muslim-brotherhood-explained-170608091709865.html|title=What is the Muslim Brotherhood?|publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 April 2019}}</ref>

On its part the International Centre for Transitional Justice has set nine 'concrete and tangible' goals with focus on "accountability for serious violations of human rights, access to justice, facilitating peace processes, advancing the cause of reconciliation and reforming the state and social institutions".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ictj.org/about|title=About us|publisher=International Centre for Transitional Justice|access-date=20 April 2019|date=15 February 2011}}</ref> One of those goals was taken up by Truth and Dignity Commission (Tunisia) that recorded and submitted to the relevant court the human rights abuses which had been committed by the Tunisian regime. A new climate of freedom of speech, freedom of organisation and elections characterised the political environment of post-Ben Ali Tunisia.

Some observers and social analysts remarked, however, that the issue of [[Social:Social justice|social justice]] remained a rhetoric or was marginalised. According to Fathi Al-Shamikhi, an expert in debt issues and founder of the Tunisian association RAID, different social forces played a crucial role in matters related to social demands and achieving social justice. "This role varies between those who advocate these demands and those who reject them, according to the social nature of each of these forces."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socialjusticeportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Social-Justice-Concept-and-Policies-after-the-Arab-Revolutions-E.pdf|title=Social Justice in the Light of the Revolutionary Process in Tunisia in ''Social Justice Concept and Policies After the Arab Revolutions''|publisher=Arab Forum for Alternative Studies, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation|date=2014|access-date=20 April 2019|page=93}}</ref> "Bread, freedom and social justice" were the main slogans of the Arab revolutions. But although social and economic demands were raised, argued researcher and former editor in chief of the Egyptian Al-Shorouq Newspaper, Wael Gamal, "they were pushed aside in the political arena, and more attention was given to issues such as the transfer of power arrangements, the constitution first, the elections first, democratic transformation and the religious-secular conflict."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socialjusticeportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Social-Justice-Concept-and-Policies-after-the-Arab-Revolutions-E.pdf|title=Social Justice and the Arab Revolutions: The Complexities of the Concept and Policies in ''Social Justice Concept and Policies After the Arab Revolutions''|publisher=Arab Forum for Alternative Studies, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation|date=2014|access-date=20 April 2019|page=15}}</ref>

=== Counter-revolution and civil wars ===
With the survival of the regime in Egypt and the rolling back of what was gained in the short period after the overthrow of Mubarak, the persistence, or even the worsening, of the socio-economic conditions that led to the Tunisian uprising, a Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain assisted the defeat of the uprising in the country, and especially the descent of other uprisings into brutal civil wars in Syria, Libya and Yemen, with acute humanitarian crises, there are:
{{blockquote|many in capitals around the world who find it convenient to insist that a strongman is needed to deal with the peoples of this region. It is a racist, bigoted argument and should be called out as such, but many political leaders of the region are quite comfortable promoting it. Indeed, many of the counterrevolutionary moves in the region happened precisely because they agree with that argument.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/amp/opinion/article-until-the-arab-world-enjoys-fundamental-rights-there-will-be-many|last=Hellyer|first=H. A.|title=Until the Arab world enjoys fundamental rights, there will be many more springs to come|date=25 April 2019|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref>}}

In April 2019, amidst an offensive to take Libya's capital city. of [[Place:Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] by military leader Khalifa Haftar, for whom U.S. President Donald Trump had voiced his support, the Syrian policy scholar Marwan Kabalan argued in an opinion piece for Al Jazeera that "counter-revolutionary forces are seeking to resurrect the military dictatorship model the Arab Spring dismantled." Kabalan contended that "regional and world powers have sponsored the return of military dictatorships to the region, with the hope that they would clean up the Arab Spring 'mess' and restore order." He also referred to Western powers' history of backing [[Social:Military dictatorship|military rule]] in the region, and how American interests in the Middle East clashed with French and British ones. He cited the U.S.-supported coups in Syria and Egypt, but generally how, as former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted, the United States "pursued stability at the expense of democracy... and achieved neither." Kabalan concluded:
{{blockquote|There seems to be a concerted effort to establish a crescent of military-ruled countries from Sudan in northeast Africa to Algeria in the northwest through Egypt and Libya to ward off popular upheaval and keep "Islamist" forces in check.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/indepth/opinion/middle-east-military-crescent-making-190429115639893.html|last=Kabalan|first=Marwan|title=In the Middle East, a new military crescent is in the making|date=29 April 2019|publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref>}}

Analyst H. A. Hellyer attributes the persistence of [[Social:Autocracy|autocracy]] and [[Social:Dictatorship|dictatorship]], as well as counter-revolution, to structures that go back to [[Social:Colonialism|colonialism]] - and also to the forms that states in the [[Finance:MENA|MENA]] region took in the postcolonial era and the social pacts established in the process. What we are seeing since 2011, Hellyer says, is a clash between those "inherited structures" and the new "demographic realities" of the populations in the region.{{snf|Hellyer|2019}}

Compromise and dialogue with the entrenched regimes, followed by elections in Tunisia and Egypt, have produced either limited change or counter-revolution. In the first quarter of 2019, protests and mass mobilisation in Sudan and Algeria succeeded in toppling the heads of state, but, as scholar and Woodrow Wilson Center fellow Marina Ottaway states, there is a dilemma:  The demands of the genuine grassroots movements are unlikely "to be attained through a peaceful process – one without violence and the violation of the human rights of many." Ottaway points to the experiences of Algeria and Egypt; in the former, the regime annulled the results of the elections in the early 1990s, and in the latter, the military carried out a bloody repression of the Muslim Brotherhood government during the 2013 coup:
{{blockquote|Attempts to bring about radical changes, by punishing and excluding a large part of the old elite, are not possible by democratic means, because such efforts elicit a strong reaction – a counterrevolution – leading to violence and repression.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/algeria-and-sudan-revolutionary-dilemma |last=Ottaway |first=Marina |title=Algeria and Sudan: The revolutionary dilemma |date=1 May 2019 |publisher=Middle East Eye |access-date=3 May 2019}}</ref>}}

== Space and the city in the Arab uprisings ==

For contemporary activists, protesting in Tahrir Square in the last decade always meant "a battle to control the space, especially under an authoritarian regime and heavy police state".<ref>{{cite journal|first=Atef |last=Said|title=We ought to be here: Historizing space and mobilization in Tahrir Square|date=2015|publisher=SAGE Publication|journal=International Sociology|language=en|volume=30|issue=4|pages=348–366|doi=10.1177/0268580914551306|s2cid=145354846}}</ref> In an environment where people distrust formal politics, they find the streets almost the only space available to them to express their grievances, discontent and solidarity. As sociologist Bayat puts it, urban streets are not only a physical place for "street politics", but they also "signify a different but crucial symbolic utterance, one that transcends the physicality of street, to convey collective sentiments of a nation or a community".<ref>{{cite book|title=Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeaspoliticsho00baya_487|url-access=limited|last=Bayat|first=Asef|date=2010|publisher=Stanford University Press |language=en|page=[https://archive.org/details/lifeaspoliticsho00baya_487/page/n225 212]}}</ref> Researcher Atef Said makes a connection between previous events that took place in Tahrir and the 2011 occupation of the Square. "Spaces," writes Said, "carry meanings that are constructed over time, redeployed and reconfigured in the present, and carried forward as inspiration for the future."{{sfn|Said|2015}}

In a survey conducted by the National Center for Social and Criminological Research in Egypt, and its results published by the daily al-Masry al-Youm, just a week before the beginning of the uprising, the sample of 2,956 people expressed that achieving justice and political stability, lowering prices, having access to clean drinking water, and providing comfortable transportation topped the list of changes they desired for their country.<ref>{{cite news|author=Riham al-Iraqi|url=https://to.almasryalyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=285113|title=استطلاع رسمي يرصد أحلام المصريين|newspaper=al-Masry al-Youm|access-date=31 March 2019}}</ref>

==By country==
* {{Flag|Tunisia}}: Jasmine revolution
* {{Flag|Algeria}}: 2010–2012 Algerian protests
* {{Flag|Sudan}}: 2011–2013 Sudanese protests
* {{Flag|Oman}}: 2011 Omani protests
* {{Flag|Yemen}}: Yemeni Revolution
* {{Flag|Jordan}}: 2011–2012 Jordanian protests
* {{Flag|Egypt}}: Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014)
* {{Flag|Syria}}: Syrian civil war
* {{Flag|Morocco}}: 2011–2012 Moroccan protests
* {{Flag|Iraq}}: 2011 Iraqi protests
* {{Flag|Bahrain}}: 2011 Bahraini uprising
* {{Flag|Kuwait}}: Kuwaiti protests (2011–2012)
* {{Flag|Libya}}: First Libyan Civil War

==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*Arab Cold War
*Arab Revolt
*Arab Summer
*Arab Winter
*Arab nationalism
*Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa
*List of modern conflicts in North Africa
*List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
*List of current monarchs of the Arabian Peninsula
}}

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<ref name="army_should_quit">{{cite news |first=Lamine |last=Chikhi |title=Algeria army should quit politics: opposition |date=21 January 2011 |publisher=Reuters Africa |url=https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE70K02X20110121 |access-date=22 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119202046/http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE70K02X20110121?sp=true |archive-date=19 January 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="ASPO-H-01">{{cite web|url=http://ictlogy.net/bibliography/reports/projects.php?idp=2170 |title=Opening Closed Regimes: What Was the Role of Social Media During the Arab Spring? |publisher=Ictlogy.net |date=22 May 2012 |access-date=30 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731093927/http://ictlogy.net/bibliography/reports/projects.php?idp=2170 |archive-date=31 July 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="ASPO-H-02">{{cite web |url=http://www.albanyassociates.com/notebook/2012/03/the-arab-spring-and-the-impact-of-social-media/ |title=The Arab Spring and the impact of social media |publisher=Albanyassociates.com |date=23 March 2012 |access-date=30 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512021954/http://www.albanyassociates.com/notebook/2012/03/the-arab-spring-and-the-impact-of-social-media/ |archive-date=12 May 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="ASPO-H-03">{{cite web|url=http://www.sirebi.org/open/Intro_ParticipatorySystems.pdf |title=Participatory Systems: Introduction |access-date=30 May 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="ASPO-H-04">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=18024%C2%A9ownerid=28657|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209171910/http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=18024%C2%A9ownerid=28657|title=OCA 2012: Online Collective Action: Dynamics of the Crowd in Social Media [DEADLINE EXTENDED]|archive-date=9 February 2013|website=wikicfp.com}}</ref>

<ref name="Assad attempts to appease minority Kurds">{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/04/20114711251531744.html |title=Assad attempts to appease minority Kurds |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=8 April 2011 |access-date=24 April 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112173007/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/04/20114711251531744.html |archive-date=12 November 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="assassing">{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/13/several-arrested-in-yemen-for-alleged-role-in-assassination-attempt-on-saleh/ |date=13 June 2011 |access-date=20 July 2011 |title=Several Arrested in Yemen for Alleged Role in an Assassination Attempt on Saleh |publisher=Fox News Channel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617100903/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/13/several-arrested-in-yemen-for-alleged-role-in-assassination-attempt-on-saleh/ |archive-date=17 June 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Aus2-5">{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/yemeni-peace-process-collapses/story-e6frg6so-1226047954704 |work=The Australian |date=2 May 2011 |access-date=2 May 2011 |title=Yemeni Peace Process Collapses |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426171248/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/yemeni-peace-process-collapses/story-e6frg6so-1226047954704 |archive-date=26 April 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12590588|title=Oman clashes: Two killed during protests in Gulf state|publisher=BBC News |date=8 February 2011|access-date=27 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227163914/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12590588 |archive-date=27 February 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.marxist.com/tunisia-protests-continue.htm |title=Tunisia: the protests continue |author=Niklas Albin Svensson |work=In Defence of Marxism |date=11 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115140713/http://www.marxist.com/tunisia-protests-continue.htm |archive-date=15 January 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite web|url=http://detnews.com/article/20110210/OPINION01/102100341/Labor-movement-drives-Egypt--Tunisia-protests#ixzz1GDjIpaeg |title=Labor movement drives Egypt, Tunisia protests |work=The Detroit News |date=10 February 2011 |access-date=19 March 2011}}{{dead link|date=May 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite news|first=Wyre|last=Davies |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12195025 |title=Tunisia: President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali forced out |publisher=BBC News |date=15 December 2010 |access-date=14 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115053136/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12195025 |archive-date=15 January 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="Bahrain moves to foil anti-government rallies">{{cite news|title=Bahrain moves to foil anti-government rallies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/bahrain-moves-to-foil-anti-government-rallies/2011/02/13/ABrXVXG_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=13 February 2011 |first=Brian |last=Murphy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109200531/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/bahrain-moves-to-foil-anti-government-rallies/2011/02/13/ABrXVXG_story.html |archive-date=9 November 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="Bahrain troops lay siege to protesters' camp">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/16/501364/main20043683.shtml |publisher=CBS News |date=16 March 2011 |access-date=12 June 2011 |title=Bahrain troops lay siege to protesters' camp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319061230/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/16/501364/main20043683.shtml |archive-date=19 March 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Bahrain's king gives out cash ahead of protests">{{cite news|url=https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE71A24Z20110211 |title=Bahrain's king gives out cash ahead of protests |publisher=Reuters |date=11 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216022333/https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE71A24Z20110211 |archive-date=16 February 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="BBC 17.3.2011">{{cite news|title=Bangladeshis complain of Bahrain rally 'coercion' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12773696 |publisher=BBC News |date=17 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519001721/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12773696 |archive-date=19 May 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="BBC 9.3.2012">{{cite news|title=Bahrain protesters join anti-government march in Manama |date=9 March 2012 |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17309839 |access-date=11 March 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425072214/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17309839 |archive-date=25 April 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="BBCNewsPalestinianPMwillingtoresignafterprotests">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19515969 |title=Palestinian PM 'willing to resign' after protests |publisher=BBC News |date=7 September 2012 |access-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910041527/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19515969 |archive-date=10 September 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="BBC News">Law, Bill (6 April 2011). [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12975832 "Police Brutality Turns Bahrain Into 'Island of Fear'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415071913/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12975832 |date=15 April 2011 }}. ''Crossing Continents'' (via BBC News). Retrieved 15 April 2011.</ref>

<ref name="bbc_20k">{{cite news|first=Lina|last=Sinjab|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12353479|title=Yemen protests: 20,000 call for President Saleh to go|publisher=BBC News |date=29 January 2011|access-date=4 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203235654/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12353479 |archive-date=3 February 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17163321 |title=New Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi takes oath |publisher=BBC News |date=25 February 2012 |access-date=30 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821164459/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17163321 |archive-date=21 August 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="bbc5">{{cite news|title=مظاهرة احتجاج في دمشق تطالب بالحريات |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2011/03/110315_syria_protest.shtml |access-date=15 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316132849/http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2011/03/110315_syria_protest.shtml |archive-date=16 March 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="bbc9">Law, Bill (22 March 2011). [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12817106 "Bahrain Rulers Unleash 'Campaign of Intimidation'"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415071920/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12817106 |date=15 April 2011 }}. ''Crossing Continents'' (via BBC News). Retrieved 15 April 2011.</ref>

<ref name="bbcbahmar">{{cite news|title=Bahrain protesters join anti-government march in Manama |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17309839 |publisher=BBC News |date=9 March 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425072214/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17309839 |archive-date=25 April 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="BBCBahr14Mar">{{cite news |title=Gulf States Send Force to Bahrain Following Protests |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12729786 |publisher=BBC News |date=14 March 2011 |access-date=15 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420040119/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12729786 |archive-date=20 April 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="bbcbahtran">{{cite news|title=Day of transformation in Bahrain's 'sacred square' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12515906 |publisher=BBC News |date=19 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405191822/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12515906 |archive-date=5 April 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="bici">{{cite web|url=http://www.bici.org.bh/ |title=Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry |publisher=BICI |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902042157/http://www.bici.org.bh/ |archive-date=2 September 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name="cfr">Cook, Steven A. "[http://blogs.cfr.org/cook/2011/03/28/how-do-you-say-1989-in-arabic/ How Do You Say 1989 in Arabic?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714020141/http://blogs.cfr.org/cook/2011/03/28/how-do-you-say-1989-in-arabic/ |date=14 July 2012 }}" ''From the Potomac to the Euphrates''. [[Organization:Council on Foreign Relations|Council on Foreign Relations]]. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2012.</ref>

<ref name="commentmideast">{{cite web|url=http://commentmideast.com/2012/04/military-restructuring-yemen/ |title=Military restructuring in Yemen: Unravelling a tangled web &#124; Comment Middle East |publisher=Commentmideast.com |access-date=28 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204053839/http://commentmideast.com/2012/04/military-restructuring-yemen/ |archive-date=4 December 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="comprehensive">Check [[Religion:2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests#Casualties|casualties of the Saudi Arabian protests]] for comprehensive list</ref>

<ref name="comprehensive4">Check Casualties of the Bahraini uprising (2011–present) for comprehensive list</ref>

<ref name="csmonitor">Chick, Kristen (1 April 2011). [http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0401/Bahrain-s-calculated-campaign-of-intimidation "Bahrain's Calculated Campaign of Intimidation"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405173344/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0401/Bahrain-s-calculated-campaign-of-intimidation |date=5 April 2011 }}. ''The Christian Science Monitor''. Retrieved 15 April 2011.</ref>

<ref name="ajbahraincrackdown">{{cite news |date=16 March 2011 |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/03/201131643831976772.html |title=Curfew Follows Deadly Bahrain Crackdown|publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=16 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414183819/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201131643831976772.html |archive-date=14 April 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Daraa: The spark that lit the Syrian flame">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/01/world/meast/syria-crisis-beginnings/index.html |title=Daraa: The spark that lit the Syrian flame |publisher=CNN |date=1 March 2012 |access-date=19 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622084602/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/01/world/meast/syria-crisis-beginnings/index.html |archive-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Democracy's hard spring">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/18332630 |newspaper=The Economist |title=Democracy's hard spring |date=10 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527025300/http://www.economist.com/node/18332630 |archive-date=27 May 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Demographics of the Arab League, computed by Wolfram Alpha">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wolframalpha.com/|title=arab league demographics - Wolfram&#124;Alpha|website=wolframalpha.com}}</ref>

<ref name="Demonstrator's death energizes Moroccan protesters">{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=224033 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=7 June 2011 |access-date=11 June 2011 |title=Demonstrator's death energizes Moroccan protesters |first=David |last=Miller |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031154635/http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=224033 |archive-date=31 October 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="derhally">{{cite news|last=Derhally |first=Massoud A. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-17/jordan-s-king-appoints-pm-after-cabinet-resigns.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020205421/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-17/jordan-s-king-appoints-pm-after-cabinet-resigns.html |archive-date=20 October 2011 |title=Jordan's King Appoints PM After Cabinet Resigns |work=Bloomberg |date=17 October 2011 |access-date=28 October 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Detention">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/world/middleeast/14egypt.html?_r=1 |title=Prosecutors Order Mubarak and Sons Held |newspaper={{wipe|The New York Times}} |date=13 March 2011|access-date=13 April 2011 |first1=David D. |last1=Kirkpatrick |first2=Liam |last2=Stack |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416093740/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/world/middleeast/14egypt.html?_r=1 |archive-date=16 April 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="dissolution">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-03-09-Tunisia_N.htm |title=Tunisia disbands party of ousted president |newspaper=USA Today |date=9 March 2011 |access-date=24 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625112634/https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-03-09-Tunisia_N.htm |archive-date=25 June 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Economist 3.12.2011">{{cite news|title=Still rich but no longer so calm |date=3 December 2011 |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://www.economist.com/node/21541075 |access-date=1 January 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228213526/http://www.economist.com/node/21541075 |archive-date=28 December 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="economist">"[http://www.economist.com/node/18867047 Open for Business?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120409134547/http://www.economist.com/node/18867047 |date=9 April 2012 }}" ''[[Finance:The Economist|The Economist]]''. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2012.</ref>

<ref name="Egypt protests: an Arab spring as old order crumbles">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12339521 |title=Egypt protests: an Arab spring as old order crumbles |publisher=BBC News |date=2 February 2011 |access-date=9 March 2011 |first=Roger |last=Hardy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110322195326/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12339521 |archive-date=22 March 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Egypt: AP Confirms Government has Disrupted Internet Service">{{cite web|url=http://pomed.org/blog/2011/01/egypt-ap-confirms-government-has-disrupted-internet-service.html/ |title=Egypt: AP Confirms Government has Disrupted Internet Service |publisher=pomed.org |access-date=28 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201013244/http://pomed.org/blog/2011/01/egypt-ap-confirms-government-has-disrupted-internet-service.html/ |archive-date=1 February 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="EGYPT: Protests continue but activists divided over goals">{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/07/egypt-tahrir-protests-continue-despite-differences-in-demands.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=15 July 2011 |access-date=20 July 2011 |title=EGYPT: Protests continue but activists divided over goals |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718101114/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/07/egypt-tahrir-protests-continue-despite-differences-in-demands.html |archive-date=18 July 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Egypt's military moves to dissolve parliament, suspend constitution">{{cite news|agency=Reuters|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/egypt-s-military-moves-to-dissolve-parliament-suspend-constitution-1.343140|title=Egypt's military moves to dissolve parliament, suspend constitution|work=Haaretz|date=13 February 2011|access-date=24 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214075534/http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/egypt-s-military-moves-to-dissolve-parliament-suspend-constitution-1.343140 |archive-date=14 February 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Egypt's Mubarak refuses to quit, hands VP powers">{{cite news|url=http://apnews.myway.com//article/20110211/D9LA9H180.html |title=Egypt's Mubarak refuses to quit, hands VP powers |work=MyWay |agency=Associated Press |access-date=11 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524150413/http://apnews.myway.com//article/20110211/D9LA9H180.html |archive-date=24 May 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Egypt's prime minister quits, new govt soon-army">{{cite web|url=http://www.forexyard.com/en/news/Egypts-prime-minsiter-quits-new-govt-soon-army-2011-03-03T093300Z |title=Egypt's prime minister quits, new govt soon-army |publisher=Forexyard.com |access-date=5 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501033518/http://www.forexyard.com/en/news/Egypts-prime-minsiter-quits-new-govt-soon-army-2011-03-03T093300Z |archive-date=1 May 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Egypt's revolution redefines what's possible in the Arab world">{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0211/Egypt-s-revolution-redefines-what-s-possible-in-the-Arab-world|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=11 February 2011|access-date=12 June 2011|title=Egypt's revolution redefines what's possible in the Arab world|first=Scott|last=Peterson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723035217/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0211/Egypt-s-revolution-redefines-what-s-possible-in-the-Arab-world |archive-date=23 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Egypt's state of emergency ends after 31 years">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9303195/Egypts-state-of-emergency-ends-after-31-years.html |title=Egypt's state of emergency ends after 31 years |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=31 May 2012 |access-date=19 June 2012 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615075855/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9303195/Egypts-state-of-emergency-ends-after-31-years.html |archive-date=15 June 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Egyptian Revolution: A Demographic Structural Analysis">{{cite journal|author=[[Biography:Andrey Korotayev|Korotayev A]] |author2=Zinkina J |url=https://www.academia.edu/29300010 |title=Egyptian Revolution: A Demographic Structural Analysis |journal=Entelequia. Revista Interdisciplinar |volume=13 |year=2011 |pages=139–165 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020144003/https://www.academia.edu/29300010/Egyptian_Revolution_A_Demographic_Structural_Analysis |archive-date=20 October 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="Egyptian state security disbanded">{{cite news|title=Egyptian state security disbanded |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/03/20113151885983516.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=15 March 2011 |access-date=15 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117095559/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/03/20113151885983516.html |archive-date=17 November 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Ex Libyan minister forms interim govt-report">{{cite news|url=http://www.lse.co.uk/FinanceNews.asp?ArticleCode=77c8l0riig2uluz&ArticleHeadline=Ex_Libyan_minister_forms_interim_govtreport |title=Ex Libyan minister forms interim govt-report |agency=LSE |date=26 February 2011 |access-date=27 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513045506/http://www.lse.co.uk/FinanceNews.asp?ArticleCode=77c8l0riig2uluz&ArticleHeadline=Ex_Libyan_minister_forms_interim_govtreport |archive-date=13 May 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Feb3_DayRage_aljaz">{{cite news|title=New protests erupt in Yemen |date=29 January 2011 |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011129112626339573.html |access-date=30 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129162342/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011129112626339573.html |archive-date=29 January 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="February 2012">{{cite web|url=http://rulers.org/2012-02.html |title=February 2012 |publisher=Rulers.org |access-date=19 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522144540/http://www.rulers.org/2012-02.html |archive-date=22 May 2012 }}</ref>

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<ref name="guarbahmll">{{cite news|title=Bahrain sees new clashes as martial law lifted |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/01/bahrain-protests-martial-law |work=The Guardian |date=1 June 2011 |location=London |first=Martin |last=Chulov |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118074922/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/01/bahrain-protests-martial-law |archive-date=18 January 2017 }}</ref>

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<ref name="In Egypt, crowd cheers newly appointed prime minister Essam Sharaf">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/04/AR2011030406364.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=4 March 2011 |access-date=20 July 2011 |title=In Egypt, crowd cheers newly appointed prime minister Essam Sharaf |first1=William |last1=Wan |first2=Portia |last2=Walker |location=Cairo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305051912/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/04/AR2011030406364.html |archive-date=5 March 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="In Syria, Opposition Stages Massive Protests">{{cite news|last=Amos|first=Deborah|title=In Syria, Opposition Stages Massive Protests|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/138168604/in-syria-opposition-stages-massive-protests|access-date=18 July 2011|publisher=NPR|date=15 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716033902/http://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/138168604/in-syria-opposition-stages-massive-protests |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/thousands-in-morocco-march-for-rights-2247511.html |location=London |work=The Independent |first1=Souhail |last1=Karam |title=Thousands in Morocco march for rights |date=20 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325022318/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/thousands-in-morocco-march-for-rights-2247511.html |archive-date=25 March 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="independent">Cockburn, Patrick (18 March 2011). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-footage-that-reveals-the-brutal-truth-about-bahrains-crackdown-2245364.html "The Footage That Reveals the Brutal Truth About Bahrain's Crackdown"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321010402/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-footage-that-reveals-the-brutal-truth-about-bahrains-crackdown-2245364.html |date=21 March 2011 }}. ''The Independent''. Retrieved 15 April 2011.</ref>

<ref name="Inspired by Tunisia and Egypt, Yemenis join in anti-government protests">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/27/AR2011012702081.html |title=Inspired by Tunisia and Egypt, Yemenis join in anti-government protests |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=27 January 2011 |access-date=1 February 2011 |first=Sudarsan |last=Raghavan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430151341/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/27/AR2011012702081.html |archive-date=30 April 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Iraq angered protesters call for Maliki resignation">{{cite news |url=http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-60907-.html |title=Iraq angered protesters call for Maliki resignation |work=Al Sumaria |date=26 February 2011 |access-date=27 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925071202/http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-60907-.html |archive-date=25 September 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Iraq PM plans no re-election">{{cite news|url=http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/05/43000042.html |title=Iraq PM plans no re-election |work=Voice of Russia |date=5 February 2011 |access-date=27 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111044547/http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/05/43000042.html |archive-date=11 January 2012 }}</ref>

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<ref name="Irish Times breaking26">{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0127/breaking26.html |title=Yemenis in anti-president protest |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=27 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520132726/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0127/breaking26.html |archive-date=20 May 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Jordan king appoints new PM, government quits">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/jordan-government-idUSLDE7101C620110201 |title=Jordan king appoints new PM, government quits |publisher=Reuters |date=1 February 2011 |access-date=2 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204083047/https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/01/jordan-government-idUSLDE7101C620110201 |archive-date=4 February 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="JordansprimeministerresignsMiddle East">{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/04/2012426135051510986.html |title=Jordan's prime minister resigns |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616172335/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/04/2012426135051510986.html |archive-date=16 June 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Jordanians stage anti-gov't sit-in in Amman">{{cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/30/c_13712927.htm |title=Jordanians stage anti-gov't sit-in in Amman |agency=Xinhua News Agency |date=30 January 2011 |access-date=13 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202074731/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/30/c_13712927.htm |archive-date=2 February 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="JSC 15 February 2012">{{cite news|title=Heavy police presence blocks Bahrain protests |date=15 February 2012 |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/201221415146400277.html |access-date=17 February 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807144949/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/201221415146400277.html |archive-date=7 August 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="JSC live blog 25 January 2012">{{cite news|title=Bahrain live blog 25 Jan 2012 |date=25 January 2012 |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/bahrain-jan-25-2012-1836 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205042332/http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/bahrain-jan-25-2012-1836 |archive-date=5 December 2012 |access-date=17 February 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="King Abdullah II of Jordan sacks government amid street protests">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/8296589/King-Abdullah-II-of-Jordan-sacks-government-amid-street-protests.html |title=King Abdullah II of Jordan sacks government amid street protests |work=The Telegraph |date=1 February 2011 |location=London |first=Adrian |last=Blomfield |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702040342/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/8296589/King-Abdullah-II-of-Jordan-sacks-government-amid-street-protests.html |archive-date=2 July 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="King's order to benefit 180,000 temporary employees">{{cite news|title=King's order to benefit 180,000 temporary employees |newspaper=Arab News |date=28 February 2011 |url=http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article289334.ece |access-date=28 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301013820/http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article289334.ece |archive-date=1 March 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Kuwait Government resigns">{{cite news|date=28 November 2011 |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-28/kuwait-government-resigns-amid-growing-opposition-protests.html |title=Kuwait Government resigns |work=Business Week |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201083114/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-28/kuwait-government-resigns-amid-growing-opposition-protests.html |archive-date=1 February 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Kuwait to hold early general election on 2 February">{{cite news|date=18 December 2011 |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j3iEoEHineaoOiXnAXfxH2KFXTHg?docId=CNG.fad80dffc69b5105a37f43fbbaedadfd.261l |title=Kuwait to hold early general election on 2 February |agency=Agence France-Presse |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525115025/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j3iEoEHineaoOiXnAXfxH2KFXTHg?docId=CNG.fad80dffc69b5105a37f43fbbaedadfd.261l |archive-date=25 May 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Kuwait's prime minister resigns after protests">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15931526 |publisher=BBC News |date=28 November 2011 |access-date=28 November 2011 |title=Kuwait's prime minister resigns after protests |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129185346/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15931526 |archive-date=29 November 2011 }}</ref>

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<ref name="latimes_3feb_20k">{{cite news|last=Daragahi |first=Borzou |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-yemen-rallies-20110204,0,7940190.story |title=Yemen, Middle East: Tens of thousands stage rival rallies in Yemen |work=Los Angeles Times |date=3 February 2011 |access-date=4 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214074814/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-yemen-rallies-20110204%2C0%2C7940190.story |archive-date=14 February 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Libya conflict: NTC forces claim Bani Walid victory">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15330551 |publisher=BBC News |title=Libya conflict: NTC forces claim Bani Walid victory |date=17 October 2011 |access-date=20 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020015114/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15330551 |archive-date=20 October 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Libya Protests: Gaddafi Militia Opens Fire on demonstrators">{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/24/libya-protests-gaddafi-fo_n_827568.html |work=The Huffington Post |date=24 February 2011 |access-date=12 June 2011 |title=Libya Protests: Gaddafi Militia Opens Fire on demonstrators |first=Cara |last=Parks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301043128/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/24/libya-protests-gaddafi-fo_n_827568.html |archive-date=1 March 2011 }}</ref>

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<ref name="lynch">{{cite web|url=http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/06/obamas_arab_spring |date=6 January 2011 |title=Obama's 'Arab Spring'? |author=Marc Lynch |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825155616/http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/06/obamas_arab_spring |archive-date=25 August 2012 |}}</ref>

<ref name="Man dies after setting himself on fire in Saudi Arabia">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12260465|title=Man dies after setting himself on fire in Saudi Arabia |publisher=BBC News |date=23 January 2011|access-date=29 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110125223439/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12260465 |archive-date=25 January 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Many wounded as Moroccan police beat protestors">{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-morocco-protests-idUKTRE74L2YU20110522 |publisher=Reuters UK |title=Many wounded as Moroccan police beat protestors |date=23 May 2011 |access-date=12 June 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110041056/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/22/uk-morocco-protests-idUKTRE74L2YU20110522 |archive-date=10 January 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="massad">{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/201282972539153865.html |date=29 August 2012 |title=The 'Arab Spring' and other American seasons |publisher=[[Engineering:Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |first=Joseph |last=Massad |access-date=29 August 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830211354/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/201282972539153865.html |archive-date=30 August 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Mauritania's Bouazizi died today">{{cite web|url=http://dekhnstan.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/mauritanias-bouazizi-died-today/ |title=Mauritania's Bouazizi died today |publisher=Dekhnstan.wordpress.com |date=23 January 2011 |access-date=28 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830065407/http://dekhnstan.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/mauritanias-bouazizi-died-today/ |archive-date=30 August 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="middle-east-online">[http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=44526 Moroccan king to make reforms with constitutional body] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223070006/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=44526 |date=23 February 2011 }}, Middle East Online, 22 February 2011;</ref>

<ref name="Mohammed Morsi sworn in as Egypt's president">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57464345/mohammed-morsi-sworn-in-as-egypts-president/ |title=Mohammed Morsi sworn in as Egypt's president |publisher=CBS News |date=30 June 2012 |access-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713204550/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57464345/mohammed-morsi-sworn-in-as-egypts-president/ |archive-date=13 July 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="monstersandcritics">[http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1621209.php/Bahrain-s-king-to-free-political-prisoners-as-protests-continue Bahrain's king to free political prisoners as protests continue] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223064913/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1621209.php/Bahrain-s-king-to-free-political-prisoners-as-protests-continue |date=23 February 2011 }}, Monsters and Critics, 22 February 2011.</ref>

<ref name="NADA BAKRI">{{cite news|last=Bakri |first=Nada |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/middleeast/28yemen.html |title=Thousands in Yemen Protest Against the Government |newspaper={{wipe|The New York Times}} |date=27 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109131203/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/middleeast/28yemen.html |archive-date=9 November 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="NATO Withdrawal from Libya">{{cite web |url=http://www.neurope.eu/article/nato-announces-withdrawal-all-troops-libya |title=NATO Withdrawal from Libya |work=New Europe |date=31 October 2011 |access-date=31 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106165618/http://www.neurope.eu/article/nato-announces-withdrawal-all-troops-libya |archive-date=6 January 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="New clashes in occupied Western Sahara">{{cite news|url=http://www.afrol.com/articles/37450|work=Afrol|date=27 February 2011|access-date=12 June 2011|title=New clashes in occupied Western Sahara |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707093158/http://www.afrol.com/articles/37450 |archive-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="New president: Egypt turns page to new era">{{cite news|title=New president: Egypt turns page to new era |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/30/world/africa/egypt-morsi/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=30 June 2012 |date=30 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630080543/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/30/world/africa/egypt-morsi/index.html |archive-date=30 June 2012 }}</ref>

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<ref name="Syria's Ramadan massacre">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/syrias-ramadan-massacre/2011/08/01/gIQAZHCKoI_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Erik |last=Wemple |date=2 August 2011 |title=Syria's Ramadan massacre |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020111633/http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/syrias-ramadan-massacre/2011/08/01/gIQAZHCKoI_story.html |archive-date=20 October 2011 }}</ref>

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<ref name="thewashingtonreview">Sullivan, Charles J. "[http://www.thewashingtonreview.org/articles/riding-the-revolutionary-wave-america-the-arab-spring-and-the-autumn-of-1989.html Riding the Revolutionary Wave: America, The Arab Spring and the Autumn of 1989] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124234505/http://www.thewashingtonreview.org/articles/riding-the-revolutionary-wave-america-the-arab-spring-and-the-autumn-of-1989.html |date=24 November 2012 }}." ''The Washington Review of Turkish and Eurasian Affairs''. Rethink Institute. April 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2012.</ref>

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<ref name="Yemen reinforces forces around capital amid fear of protest escalation">{{cite news |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-02/02/c_13716611.htm |title=Yemen reinforces forces around capital amid fear of protest escalation |work=Xinhua News |date=2 February 2011 |access-date=2 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206052246/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-02/02/c_13716611.htm |archive-date=6 February 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="YEMEN: Protests revived in 'Friday of Rage'">{{cite news|last=Lubin|first=Gus|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/02/yemen-protests-revived-in-friday-of-rage.html|title=YEMEN: Protests revived in 'Friday of Rage'|work=Los Angeles Times |date=11 February 2011|access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211192407/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/02/yemen-protests-revived-in-friday-of-rage.html |archive-date=11 February 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Yemen's Saleh Agrees to Step Down in Exchange for Immunity, Official Says">{{cite news|last=Hatem |first=Mohammed |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-23/yemen-s-saleh-agrees-to-step-down-in-exchange-for-immunity-official-says.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813161300/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-23/yemen-s-saleh-agrees-to-step-down-in-exchange-for-immunity-official-says.html |archive-date=13 August 2011 |title=Yemen's Saleh Agrees to Step Down in Exchange for Immunity, Official Says |publisher=Bloomberg |date=23 April 2011 |access-date=28 October 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Yemen's Saleh formally steps down after 33 years">{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iqhKKOqo6XDujeTI_yaD4B0CcyVA?docId=CNG.12cc0199ecc6457c2d2a25874218f73d.691 |agency=Agence France-Presse |title=Yemen's Saleh formally steps down after 33 years |date=27 February 2012 |access-date=19 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525115035/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iqhKKOqo6XDujeTI_yaD4B0CcyVA?docId=CNG.12cc0199ecc6457c2d2a25874218f73d.691 |archive-date=25 May 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Yemeni government supporters attack protesters, injuring hundreds">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/yemeni-government-supporters-attack-protesters-injuring-hundreds/2011/03/16/AB56R9g_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=16 March 2011 |access-date=12 June 2011 |title=Yemeni government supporters attack protesters, injuring hundreds |first=Hakim |last=Almasmari |location=Sanaa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305234013/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/yemeni-government-supporters-attack-protesters-injuring-hundreds/2011/03/16/AB56R9g_story.html |archive-date=5 March 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Yemeni President Saleh signs deal on ceding power">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15865253 |publisher=BBC News |date=23 November 2011 |access-date=6 December 2011 |title=Yemeni President Saleh signs deal on ceding power |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111205130243/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15865253 |archive-date=5 December 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Yemeni president signals he won't stay beyond 2013">{{cite news|last=Sudam |first=Mohamed |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-president-idUSTRE7111WC20110202 |title=Yemeni president signals he won't stay beyond 2013 |publisher=Reuters |date=2 February 2011 |access-date=2 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203084622/https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/02/us-yemen-president-idUSTRE7111WC20110202 |archive-date=3 February 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="PMAsks">{{cite news |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jAmTjlM7jiYKd0G5_L36_8ddKZ6g?docId=CNG.dba0d5223b96bf289a0dccc58fc430b6.941&hl=en |title=Abbas asks caretaker Palestinian PM to stay on |publisher=Agence France-Presse |date=13 August 2013 |access-date=19 February 2014 }} </ref>
}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Aa. Vv. (2011), The New Arab Revolt: What Happened, What It Means, and What Comes Next, Council on Foreign Relations, Foreign Affairs, Maggio-Giugno.
*{{cite journal |last1=Al Mahameed |first1=Muhammad |last2=Belal |first2=Ataur |last3=Gebreiter |first3=Florian |last4=Lowe |first4=Alan |title=Social accounting in the context of profound political, social and economic crisis: the case of the Arab Spring |journal=Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal |date=2021-06-07 |volume=34 |issue=5 |pages=1080–1108 |doi=10.1108/AAAJ-08-2019-4129 |s2cid=228819446 |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/168291/ }}
* {{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Hager |year=2022 |title=Egypt after the Arab Spring: A Legacy of No Advancement |url=https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publications/giga-focus/egypt-after-the-arab-spring-a-legacy-of-no-advancement/ |website=www.giga-hamburg.de |publisher=German Institute for Global and Area Studies |issn=1862-3611}}
* Abaza, M. (2011), Revolutionary Moments in Tahrir Square, American University of Cairo, 7 May 2011, www.isa-sociology.org.
* Abdih, Y. (2011), Arab Spring: Closing the Jobs Gap. High youth unemployment contributes to widespread unrest in the Middle East Finance & Development, in Finance & Development (International Monetary Fund), Giugno.
* Alfadhel, Khalifa. The Failure of the Arab Spring (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016). {{ISBN|978-1-4438-9789-1}}
* {{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=L |date=May–June 2011 |title=Demystifying the Arab Spring: Parsing the Differences between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=90 |number=3}}
* Beinin, J. – Vairel, F. (2011), (a cura di), Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa, Stanford, CA, Stanford University press.
* {{cite book |last1=Brownlee |first1=Jason |last2=Masoud |first2=Tarek |last3=Reynolds |first3=Andrew |title=The Arab Spring: the politics of transformation in North Africa and the Middle East |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2013 }}
* {{cite book|last=Browers|first=Michaelle|year=2009|title=Political Ideology in the Arab World: Accommodation and Transformation|location=New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-76532-9}}
* Cohen, R. (2011), A Republic Called Tahrir, in ''New York Times''.
* Dabashi, Hamid. ''The Arab Spring: The End of Postcolonialism'' (Palgrave Macmillan; 2012) 182 pages
* {{cite book|first=Nonie|last=Darwish|title=The demon We Don't Know: The Dark Side of Revolutions in the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VjiKZwEACAAJ|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=28 February 2012}}
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1080/14781158.2014.924916|title=The failure of strategic nonviolent action in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Syria: 'political ju-jitsu' in reverse|journal=Global Change, Peace & Security|volume=26|issue=3|pages=299–313|year=2014|last1=Davies|first1=Thomas Richard|s2cid=145013824|url=http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13046/1/Manuscript-notanonymousREVISED.pdf}}
* {{cite book|last=Gardner|first=David|year=2009|title=Last Chance: The Middle East in the Balance|location=London|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-84885-041-5}}
* Gause, F. G. (2011), Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring: The Myth of Authoritarian Stability, in Foreign Affairs, July/August.
* {{cite journal |author=Goldstone, Jack A. |last2=Hazel |first2=John T. Jr. |date=14 April 2011 |title=Understanding the Revolutions of 2011: Weakness and Resilience in Middle Eastern Autocracies |journal=Foreign Affairs |issue=May/June 2011 |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67694/jack-a-goldstone/understanding-the-revolutions-of-2011 }}
* {{Cite book|editor1-last=Haddad|editor1-first=Bassam|editor2-last=Bsheer|editor2-first=Rosie|editor3-last=Abu-Rish|editor3-first=Ziad|year=2012|title=The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order?|location=London|publisher=[[Company:Pluto Press|Pluto Press]]|isbn=978-0-7453-3325-0|title-link=Jadaliyya#Book}}
* {{cite book|last=Kaye|first=Dalia Dassa|title=More Freedom, Less Terror? Liberalization and Political Violence in the Arab World|location=Santa Monica, CA|publisher=RAND Corporation|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8330-4508-9}}
* Krüger, Laura-Theresa, and Bernhard Stahl. "The French foreign policy U-turn in the Arab Spring–the case of Tunisia." ''Mediterranean Politics'' 23.2 (2018): 197–222 [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bernhard_Stahl2/publication/309756162_The_French_foreign_policy_U-turn_in_the_Arab_Spring_-_the_case_of_Tunisia/links/5cefd4d54585153c3da67fb0/The-French-foreign-policy-U-turn-in-the-Arab-Spring-the-case-of-Tunisia.pdf online].
* Lutterbeck, Derek. (2013). [http://afs.sagepub.com/content/39/1/28.abstract Arab Uprisings, Armed Forces, and Civil-Military Relations.] Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 39, No. 1 (pp.&nbsp;28–52)
* {{Cite book|editor1=Ottaway, Marina|editor2=Choucair-Vizoso, Julia|title=Beyond the Façade: Political Reform in the Arab World|location=Washington, DC|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|year=2008|isbn=978-0-87003-239-4|url=https://archive.org/details/beyondfacadepoli0000otta}}
* {{Cite journal |author=Pelletreau, Robert H. |date=24 February 2011 |title=Transformation in the Middle East: Comparing the Uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain |journal=Foreign Affairs |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67546/robert-h-pelletreau/transformation-in-the-middle-east }}
* {{cite book |last=Phares |first=Walid |year=2010 |title=Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4391-7837-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/comingrevolution0000phar }}
* {{Cite book|editor1=Posusney, Marsha Pripstein |editor2=Angrist, Michele Penner |year=2005|title=Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Regimes and Resistance|location=Boulder|publisher=Lynne Rienner|isbn=978-1-58826-317-9}}
*Roberts, Adam, Michael J. Willis, Rory McCarthy and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), [http://www.oup.com/uk/isbn/9780198749028 ''Civil Resistance in the Arab Spring: Triumphs and Disasters''], Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016. {{ISBN|978-0-19-874902-8}}. Arabic language edition published by [http://www.all-prints.com/book.php?id=718 All Prints Publishers], Beirut, 2017. {{ISBN|978-9953-88-970-2}}.
* Rosiny, S. and Richter, T. (2016). "The Arab Spring: Misconceptions and Prospects". [https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publication/the-arab-spring-misconceptions-and-prospects ''GIGA Focus Middle East No. 4/2016'']
* Steinitz, Chris and McCants, William (2014). [https://www.academia.edu/8395293/Reaping_the_Whirlwind_Gulf_State_Competition_after_the_Arab_Uprisings Reaping the Whirlwind: Gulf State Competition after the Arab Uprisings]. Arlington, VA: CNA Corporation.
* {{cite journal |author=Struble Jr., Robert |date=22 August 2011 |title=Libya and the Doctrine of Justifiable Rebellion |journal=Catholic Lane |url=http://catholiclane.com/libya-and-the-doctrine-of-justifiable-rebellion/ |access-date=1 September 2011 |archive-date=17 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110417210536/http://catholiclane.com/libya-and-the-doctrine-of-justifiable-rebellion/ |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite journal |title=Globalization, the environment and the future "greening" of Arab politics. |last=Tausch |first=Arno |journal=Mpra Paper |year=2015 |publisher=REPEC |location=Connecticut |url=https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/64511.html }}
*{{cite journal |title=A Look at International Survey Data About Arab Opinion |journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs |volume=17 |issue=3  |date=Fall 2013 |pages=57–74 |last=Tausch |first=Arno |ssrn=2388627 }}
*{{cite journal|ssrn=2827232|doi=10.2139/ssrn.2827232|title=The Civic Culture of the Arab World: A Comparative Analysis Based on World Values Survey Data|journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs|volume=20|issue=1|pages=35–59|date=Spring 2016|last1=Tausch|first1=Arno|s2cid=157863317}}
*{{Cite book |last=Tausch |first=Arno |title=The political algebra of global value change. General models and implications for the Muslim world. With Almas Heshmati and Hichem Karoui. |publisher=Nova Science Publishers |location=New York|year=2015 |edition=1st |isbn=978-1-62948-899-8}}
* United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues. (2012). [https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo18547 ''Women and the Arab Spring: Joint Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues and the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session, November 2, 2011.''] Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.
*{{cite journal |last1=Amanda Jacoby |first1=Tamil |year=2013 |title=Israel's relations with Egypt and Turkey during the Arab Spring: Weathering the Storm |journal=Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs |volume=VII |issue=2 |pages=29–42 |doi=10.1080/23739770.2013.11446550 |s2cid=148402328 }}
{{refend}}


==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150209174836/http://www.teluguaspirant.com/arab-spring-background-causes-impact-present-situation-etc/1575/ Arab Spring] (archived 9 February 2015)
*[http://www.righttononviolence.org/ Right to Nonviolence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214093933/http://www.righttononviolence.org/ |date=14 February 2012 }}
*[http://www.usip.org/ United States Institute of Peace]
*[http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/facebook-and-twitter-key-to-arab-spring-uprisings-report Civil Movements: The Impact of Facebook and Twitter]
*[http://www.righttononviolence.org/mecf Middle East Constitutional Forum]

===Live blogs===
*[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/ Middle East] at ''Al Jazeera''
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12480844 Middle East protests] at ''BBC News''
*[https://www.theguardian.com/news/blog+world/middleeast Arab and Middle East protests] live blog at ''{{wipe|The Guardian}}''
*[http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/ Middle East Protests] at ''The Lede'' blog at ''{{wipe|The New York Times}}''
*[http://live.reuters.com/Event/Middle_East_Protests Middle East protests live] at ''{{wipe|Reuters}}''

===Ongoing coverage===
*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DU8AOlkTV6F0ZyoGcbk_060iBZG5tWKwj_n97EJPe9M/edit A (Working) Academic Arab Spring Reading List] collected ''peer-reviewed'' academic articles on the impact of ''[[Social:Social media|social media]]'' on the Arab Spring
*[http://www.righttononviolence.org/mecf/timeline-me Constitutional Transitions Timeline] Collected legal and political changes and short analysis at [http://www.righttononviolence.org/mecf/ Middle East Constitutional Forum]
*[http://www.carnegieendowment.org/topic/?fa=list&id=839 Unrest in the Arab World] collected news and commentary at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
*[http://www.cfr.org/egypt/issue-guide-arab-world-protests/p23929 Issue Guide: Arab World Protests], [[Organization:Council on Foreign Relations|Council on Foreign Relations]]
*[http://www.ft.com/indepth/middle-east-protests Middle East protests] collected news and commentary at the ''[[Social:Financial Times|Financial Times]]''
*[http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2011/arab.unrest/ Unrest in the Arab World] collected map, news and commentary at ''CNN''
*{{Guardiantopic|world/arab-and-middle-east-protests|Arab and Middle East unrest}}
*{{Guardiantopic|world/interactive/2011/mar/22/middle-east-protest-interactive-timeline|Arab and Middle East unrest – interactive timeline}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110408135635/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/t.php?t=uprising Rage on the Streets] collected news and commentary at ''Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review'' (archived 8 April 2011)
*[http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/syria-president-appoints-new-government-orders-protesters-freed-from-jail Middle East Unrest] collected news and commentary at ''The National''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110926175159/http://showdownmideast.com/ Middle East Uprisings] collected news and commentary at ''Showdown in the Middle East'' website (archived 26 September 2011)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110203073650/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2045328,00.html The Middle East in Revolt] collected news and commentary at ''Time'' (archived 3 February 2011)

===Other===
*{{cite journal|last1=Hassan|first1=Oz|title=Undermining the transatlantic democracy agenda? The Arab Spring and Saudi Arabia's counteracting democracy strategy|journal=Democratization|volume=22|issue=3|year=2015|pages=479–495|issn=1351-0347|doi=10.1080/13510347.2014.981161|doi-access=free}}
*[https://www.scribd.com/doc/90470593/The-CenSEI-Report-Vol-2-No-6-February-13-19-2012#outer_page_23 The Arab Spring—One Year Later: The CenSEI Report analyzes how 2011's clamor for democratic reform met 2012's need to sustain its momentum.] ''The CenSEI Report'', 13 February 2012
*[http://www.interfacejournal.net/2012/05/interface-volume-4-issue-1-the-season-of-revolution-the-arab-spring-and-european-mobilizations/ Interface journal special issue on the Arab Spring], ''Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements'', May 2012
*{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/02/daily_chart_arab_unrest_index |title=The Shoe Thrower's index (An index of unrest in the Arab world) |newspaper=The Economist |date=9 February 2011}}
*{{cite news |url=http://en.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-1164/i.html |title=Interview with Tariq Ramadan: 'We Need to Get a Better Sense of the Trends within Islamism' |publisher=Qantara.de |date=2 February 2011 |access-date=4 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226115107/http://en.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-1164/i.html |archive-date=26 February 2011 }}
*[http://www.reasonpapers.com/pdf/33/rp_33_18.pdf Sadek J. Al Azm, "The Arab Spring: Why Exactly at this Time?" Reason Papers 33 (Fall 2011)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140515004200/http://revolutiontrends.org/ Tracking the wave of protests with statistics], ''RevolutionTrends.org'' (archived 15 May 2014)
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20626645 Arab uprisings: 10 key moments] from BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowden (10 December 2012)
* ''[https://www.howtostartarevolution.org/ How to Start a Revolution]'', documentary directed by Ruaridh Arrow


[[Category:Internet censorship]]

{{Sourceattribution|Arab Spring|1}}