The Arab uprising is a crucial turning point in the history of institutions in the Arab world characterized by dissent among citizens and undesired economic and political systems (Filiu, 2011). A revolutionary movement comprises an organized group of people committed to drastically alter or introduce wholesome changes in the social, political and economic facets of a country or a monarch (DeFronzo, 2018). The U.S and U.K governments, alongside existing absolute monarchies in the Arab world such as Saudi Arabia played a significant role in the Arab revolution, which started in 2010 in Tunisia, then Egypt before quickly spreading in the Arab world in Libya, Bahrain, and Morocco. DeFronzo identifies five critical factors which influence the success of any revolutionary group towards achieving its objectives. The critical factors are: the presence of mass discontent, dissident elites, unifying motives for revolution, weakening of pro-revolutionary state and a permissive world context (DeFronzo, 2018). DeFronzo (2018) argues that the fifth critical factor, the permissive world context, ensured that the Arab uprising was only successful in uprooting regimes which posed a threat to the interests of the U.S and U.K governments. The uprisings in many parts of the Arab world were only allowed to develop if they favored interests of the West and Saudi Arabia, while potential revolutions which would have resulted into ascension to power of governments opposed to the domination of the West and Saudi were quickly suppressed using support to the old undemocratic regimes.
For the dominant forces in the West, sharing democracy with the Arab nations presents a risk of reduced access to oil and natural energy resources these Arab countries have in abundance. The U.K and U.S governments fear that if a democratic process were allowed to happen in these countries, it would result in the election of governments which oppose their interests (DeFronzo, 2018). As such, these two countries, aided by wealthy and powerful royals of Saudi Arabia have done little or nothing to prevent the removal of the democratically elected president in Egypt and indeed played a significant role in the ouster of the regimes in Libya (DeFronzo, 2018). Also, when Bahrainis rose up against that country's monarchal dictatorship and were repressed by Bahraini and other Gulf monarchy troops, the Obama administration was almost silent (DeFronzo, 2018). These presents examples of instances where a permissive world context, DeFronzo's fifth critical element for the success of a revolution, played a leading role in the determination the course of uprisings in the Arab world.
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The role of the U.S and U.K governments in suppressing dissent and potential uprisings is singly motivated by safeguarding their interests and is less concerned with enhancing democratic processes. The fifth element proposed by DeFronzo is critical in determining whether or not any form of Arab uprising is successful in introducing a total regime change or not. Major players in the Arab world, such as the Saudi, also influence the dynamics of counterterrorism, motivated to ensure a continuum if their dominance and holding on to revenues from the sale of oil and energy products of their country (Lesch & Haas, 2012). Therefore, just like the U.S and U.K governments, the Saudi royals create a permissive world context for revolution through facilitating aid to the incumbent government to suppress dissenting voices (Filiu, 2011). In summary, the events of the Arab revolt enforce DeFronzo's fifth critical element, amplifying the role of the world context in facilitating the growth of revolution.
References
DeFronzo, J. (2018). Revolutions and revolutionary movements . Routledge.
Filiu, J. P. (2011). The Arab Revolution. Ten Lessons from the Democratic Uprising./London: Hurst &Co .
Lesch, D., & Haas, M. (Eds.). (2012). The Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East . Westview Press.
