The Religious and Political Aspect of Arab Spring



The Religious and Political Aspect of Arab Spring

Introduction

Arab Spring is a wave of revolution that came in the Arab countries. This wave brought several protests and demonstrations in the Arab world. There were riots and also civil wars. Some protest were violent and some non violent. This wave started from 18 December 2010. The civilians made effective use of social media in order to communicate, inform and get organized. The slogan of the Arab people was "the people want to bring down the regime”. This revolt is said to be a leaderless revolt. Although, in some countries, youth activists led the protest, mostly the public eruption was spontaneous; nevertheless it was organized.

The rulers of the Arab world had to suffer. The countries in which regimes were toppled include the following: Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and Egypt. Civil uprisings were there in Syria and Bahrain. Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Sudan and Morocco witnessed major protests whereas minor were seen in The Palestinian Authority, Oman, Mauritania, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia and Western Sahara. The governments and the authorities responded violently towards the protests. Violence from the government provoked violence in the masses also, but not always.

Discussion

Political Aspects

The Arab spring was a political awakening from all corners of Arab. Young people emerged out on the road, tired from their monotonous life, demanded liberty and economic opportunity (Ajami, 2012). It was a major change in the Arab world as the entire globe has experienced protest and political changes except Middle East. The rulers in the Arab countries were despotic. They had locked the gates of free politics in the countries. The people got frustrated and felt bereft. The region exceptionalism highly influenced the social and political fabric of the countries (Ajami, 2012).

The aging dictatorships also caused an ...