The Meaning of Violent and Non-Violent Dreams

The world has experienced seasonal periods of violent and non-violent dreams. They include the World Wars, the Cold War, and the violent and non-violent demonstrations experienced in the early and mid-20th century in the USA. Some of this were political, economic and even at times socially orchestrated. Another less known period is the ‘Arab Spring’ that took over Tunisia in its initial stages before spreading out to other countries. The ‘Arab Spring’ was a revolutionary wave that started amongst the Arabs on the 17th of December 2010. The period was characterized by violent and non-violent activities from the greater population. Domestic and international actors were all engaged in a competition for support but were however doing it for their own selfish interests. The theory of neoliberal institutionalism was greatly manifested in this times. Demonstrations, riots, protests, civil wars, and coups became very rampant amongst the Arabs. This paper looks at how at how the ‘Arab Spring’ started off in Tunisia and Egypt, their main causes, and the trajectories it took. 

The ‘Arab Spring’ in Tunisia 

On the 17th of December 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi who was a street vendor set himself ablaze after a police officer seized the cart he used to make a living with alongside with the produce (Cornell University Library, 2016b). This was seen as an act of hopelessness and protest against the social mistreatment of Tunisians by the government more so by the police. The protestors felt that the government was infringing their rights including the right to life. After that incident, demonstrations began in that locality where Bouazizi had been doing his business. People from the region had become victims of police brutality for quite a long period. Moreover, they were not given equal economic and political opportunities by the government, especially regarding to employment in parastatal organizations. They complained of continued oppression that tainted their existence as citizens of a country that was supposedly liberal. 

The demonstrations took a new direction later on as other events started to be experienced all over the country (Lynch, 2016). Riots all over and acts of civil disobedience were on the increase. The social media was taken by storm with most people using it as the platform to air their anti-regime insults and protests (Lynch, 2016). They also protested physically on the streets and even initiated a proceeding to the capital, Tunis, which was the location of the government headquarters. However, upon reaching there, the protestors were attacked brutally by the state police and some ended up losing their loved ones. Most of them were brutally injured while others were arrested by the authorities and put behind bars. This made the activists and demonstrators to re-ignite their social media approach. They wanted the world to see what was happening around there and to gain external support. 

Government’s Reaction 

However, the government reacted by shutting down the internet thus no one could access the social media (Lynch, 2016). This only rekindled the spirit of resentment amongst the citizens of Tunisia. They felt that they were being denied their freedom of expression which was supposed to be upheld at all times by all the state agencies including the police force. They took their demonstrations from the online platform to the streets. The then president, Zine el-Abedin Ben Ali, later reacted by reshuffling his cabinet and offering 300,000 job opportunities (Lynch, 2016). However, it was already too late to make reforms. The common feel amongst the people was that the whole government had to be scrapped off and they were not stopping at anything lesser than that. 

With no other way to appease the people of Tunisia, Ben Ali ended up running to exile in Saudi Arabia with his family (Cornell University Library, 2016b). What had initially started as a minor street protest led to an untimely end of one of the most repressive Arab regimes. History was made through this because it was also the first time that a revolution had removed a dictator from power without organizing a coup. 

Elections were then held afterward in 2011 where Nidaa Tounes party emerged the winner whereas Ennahda came in second. Beji Caïd Essebsi who was the presidential contestant on the secular-nationalist became the first Tunisian president to have been elected democratically. Essebsi had previously served as state official under the Ben Ali administration as the Tunisian foreign minister since 1981 to 86. Nevertheless, he had served as the prime minister in 2011. Despite all these achievements, the infant government has been accused of failing to observe the essential reforms. For instance, in 2015, the government proposed a law that would see amnesty granted to former administrators indicted for corruption. Tunisians see this move as a probable reversal of fruits of the uprising. The political landscape in Egypt is so tense with parties such as Ennahda remains strikingly divided and confronted by both non-Islamists and Islamists (Malsin, 2015). The transition, however, continues to be peaceful with different trade unions, civil societies, political parties and media upholding political tolerance. 

The ‘Arab Spring’ in Egypt 

Following the successive events in Tunisia, Egypt started their protests and strikes on the 25th of January 2011 (Cornell University Library, 2016a). It was the National Police Day in Egypt. The protests were initiated by a group of opposition activists who were strongly condemning the government, and it lasted for 18 hours. They were joined by other opposition groups, and they merged their forces to fight against their common enemy. There was no centralized leadership in the Egyptian Arab Spring. Both the activists and opposition groups shared common grievances. They were against oppressive and corruptive rule and their key goal was to see the coming to an end of such leadership. 

However, the key event that sparked the Arab Spring in Egypt was the cold-blooded killing of a man named Khaled Said (Lynch, 2016). Said was beaten to death by a group of police officers after he was dragged out of a cybercafé located in Alexandria. This act angered most people in Egypt, and it started the revolutionary movement. Photographs of Khaled’s disfigured body were shared through the social media and the world realized yet again of the inhuman treatment of Arabs by their ruling governments. 

Wael Ghoneim, who was an Egyptian and also a Google Executive, initiated the use of social media to air the people’s grievances. He opened up a Facebook page named ‘We Are All Khaled Said” that gained a lot of popularity with a huge number of followers (Cornell University Library, 2016a). Ghoneim’s Facebook page became the operational backbone of the Arab spring. The January 25th protests were first publicized through this account. Ghoneim grew to become one of the most prominent Arab Spring youth activists out of these and is thus seen as a representation of the presence of a young liberal wing in Egypt. 

Vices like corruption, brutality by police, media censorship, inflation, unemployment, and inequity in resource distribution were the cry of the people of Egypt during President Mubarak’s reign. Demonstrators organized continuous protests against the government. They occupied the Tahrir Square which was in downtown Cairo, the capital city of Egypt and also the location of the government offices (Lynch, 2016). Labor strikes were also very rampant at the same time. Civil disobedience was also another way that was used by the protestors and activists. They could hold massive rallies where they could point out key flaws in the government and call for the resignation of the president. 

Government Reaction 

As a result of these attacks, the government retaliated against the protesters who were mostly liberals and members of the Muslim brotherhood. The police openly attacked this people in a very inhuman way. They opened fire on them occasionally and arrested most of them. Those who got arrested were subjected to torture, and some were even killed. The government came up with some stringent laws against demonstrations, but there was no turning back for the people of Egypt. Mubarak and his government had to go was their call, and there was no looking back. 846 deaths and thousands of injuries were registered as a result of these anti-regime activities (Cornell University Library, 2016a). 

On the 11th of February 2011, President Mubarak’s reign came to an end. He was deposed from office, and the Egyptian parliament was dissolved. Elections were then held afterward and Mohamed Morsi, formerly a member of the Muslim brotherhood, became Egypt’s first democratically elected president. Morsi had as well been a political prisoner under Mubarak’s reign after he had proved to be a worthy rival. The constitution became effected and the country’s ‘emergency laws’ were dissolved (Cornell University Library, 2016a). A feeling of achievement engulfed the place and revolutionists were now thinking they had won the battle. On the contrary, Egypt had just transitioned from one political extreme to another. Mubarak was arrested in June 2012, and one of the key allegations placed against him was the murder of protestors thus a life sentence was the penalty. He was, however, released in August 2013 after the post-coup military-led government. In the same year Morsi was ousted by the Egyptian military after days of anti-government demonstrations. Also, Morsi had ignored the generals’ ultimatum to settle the political crisis in Egypt. Today, Egypt is financially unstable and with very high rates of unemployment. Their economic growth has contracted and this has angered most people in the region. Terror attacks have also become quite rampant with the increasing ISIS insurgency. 

External Powers and the Arab Spring 

On the wake of the Arab Spring, external powers came in to support most of their endeavours. They offered moral, financial, and material support for those who were taking part in the revolutionary activities. The United States was at the forefront of the support. It provided a lot of materials that they needed for their operations both in Tunisia and Egypt. Most of what was done by the external powers were only in their self-interests and for their greater gain. For instance, the USA and the European Union (EU) were pushing for the strengthening of its foreign policy which advocated for democracy and human rights (Lodgaard, 2016). This meant that for them to fully weigh in their support, then both Tunisia and Egypt had to uphold this foreign policy. They had to respect the human rights and practice democracy. With this kind of personal interests held at heart, it was much harder for them to give full support to the respective nations and their call for reformed leadership. Furthermore, most Arab states were not for the idea of democracy and thus the reason why they forewent dependency on such external powers. 

In both Tunisia and Egypt, the influence of external powers was relatively low compared to other states like Libya who received military support from the UN from the start (Lodgaard, 2016). Tunisia, for instance, did not take advice from the US and the EU which had offered to be of help. They sought advice from the UNDP, the Venice Commission, Other African Countries, and countries from Latin America (Lodgaard, 2016). Other regional states like Turkey seized the Arab Spring as an opportunity to boost its power and influence. Other countries in the Saudi’s were guided by their national securities. This included regime stability and regional stability. They resorted to taking charge of most markets previously controlled by this affected regions and establishing themselves as the dominant runners. 

Relevant Theory to the ‘Arab Spring’ in Tunisia and Egypt 

The ‘Arab Spring’ in both Tunisia and Egypt depicts the neoliberal institutionalism theory in the way they went through this period. Neoliberal institutionalism suggests that international institutions have a role to play in regards to international relations with other states, both economically and politically. This means that in times of civil crisis and economic problems, there is a specific role that is to be played by this institutions to ensure that the issue is resolved. 

Despite the fact that least was done by international institutions (like the EU) during the ‘Arab Spring’ in both Tunisia and Egypt, at least some concern was raised. The EU supported them in the organising of democratic elections and even provided them with capital to run their errands. Nevertheless, the involvement of other countries in decision making was also a critical step towards neoliberal institutionalism. The advice they received and even support from regional states was of significance towards achieving political strength and thus improving the economic ability of this nations. 

Conclusion 

Though associated with the loss of many lives and destruction of resources, the ‘Arab Spring’ brought a revolutionary change to this states. It saw the end of corrupt governments and the deposition of malicious dictator leaders. Police brutality was also done away with, and the nations were no longer living under oppression and fear. This was a great step towards achieving national cohesion in these states. 

References 

Cornell University Library (2016a). Arab Spring: A research and study guide: Egypt. Cornell University Library . Retrieved http://guides.library.cornell.edu/c.php?g=31688&p=200748. 

Cornell University Library (2016b). “Arab Spring: A research and study guide: Tunisia.” Cornell University Library . Retrieved http://guides.library.cornell.edu/c.php?g=31688&p=200750 

Lodgaard, S. (2016). External Powers and the Arab Spring. NUPI . Retrieved from http://www.nupi.no/en/News/External-powers-and-the-Arab-spring. 

Lynch, Marc. (2016). The New Arab Wars: Uprisings and Anarchy in the Middle East . New York, NY: PublicAffairs. 

Malsin, J. (2015). Why the Arab Spring Has Not Led to Disaster in Tunisia. Time Inc. Retrieved from http://time.com/4154134/arab-spring-tunisia-anniversary/.