The Arab Spring

The Arab Spring

The Arab Spring was a revolt that took over various countries in the Middle East, which led to the ouster of different leaders in different countries. The Arab spring led to many countries in the Middle East having regime change and structure of government change even though it was short-lived. The Arab Spring took place in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Tunisia. The results of the Arab springs were diverse, but in most cases, it led to more disaster, and more suffering for the people as the changes in government occurred without the right structures in place. Tunisia and Egypt are the countries that achieved a positive outcome from the Arab spring as of current. However, Egypt had to undergo a period of turmoil, and it reverted to authoritarian rule shortly after, which provided the stability that has helped Egypt to rise from the Arab spring.

The Arab spring was motivated by the desire for most people to achieve self-government, where they would elect the governments and also have various liberties which had in the past been limited. Although this was the main goal, most of the countries only achieved a change in government, and it did not end with the desired results other than in Tunisia, where the government stepped down and led to the democratization of elections in the country. Other countries such as Egypt had partial victories, as the Arab spring led to the country turning into a democracy, it did lead to high costs as the country soon experienced a coup and people protested, and the rule that was soon after constituted was authoritarian and not democratic. The elections that were held in Egypt were not democratic or free and fair, and this negated what the protest was about from the beginning.

Yemen and Libya are currently referred to as failed states as the governments in the countries do not have control, and militias control various areas. The Arab spring was supposed to ensure that the sates would achieve democracy, but what it led to was the fact that the authoritarian leaders that held the countries together were defeated. The rebels and militias started to fight over control if certain areas. The fighting of the militias and rebels led to multiple people losing their lives and further led to the disruption of the economies and the public amenities that they were interested in. The Arab spring, in this case, left the countries with no control, and most of the residents would have favored that the authoritarian, dictatorial leaders had remained in place to protect the people and provide essential services.

The Arab Spring was supposed to ensure that people would be able to vote for their leaders freely, but these were not the case as countries such as Egypt were soon taken over by the military as they tried to ensure that the peace was maintained. The process of achieving democracy further led to huge sacrifices being made as the military had to impose its own set of rules, which was against the constitution and led to the death of other people in the process. Democracy is supposed to have roots that can be formidable, but in countries such as Libya, this was not the case. The Libya people in their search for democracy did not provide a fair trial to the authoritarian leaders that were not charged. Still, instead they just passed judgment, which led to the killing of the ruling family. The killings meant that other leaders were afraid of the impact of the Arab springs going on, and thus they invested in arming the rebels, which destabilized the country.

As a measure of democracy, people are not supposed to be fleeing from their country. Yemen and Libya have had millions of people trying to escape the states in favor of safe-haven such as countries in Europe and Canada. The number of refugee from Libya and Yemen has been growing by the year and most countries in Europe have locked their doors to the refugees which have led to some drowning in the Mediterranean Sea as they try to cross over into Europe. Libya is a study case of human rights violation where people trying to gain access to the Middle East are at times captured and they are sold in auctions as slaves. The human violations in the country are higher after the Arab spring compared to when the country was under authoritarian rule.

Egypt’s authoritarian rule was beneficial for the country as it helped the country to recover. Egypt has gone against the grain on maintaining democracy and thus has led to the people being more satisfied with the government rule in place, but has learn from previous experiences where the government is oriented towards meeting the needs of the people and abiding by the constitution. Countries such as Libya and Yemen are yet to establish a functional government, which means that they have a long way to go and risk being failed states for long where terrorist groups can base their operations in.

Conclusion

When analyzing democracy, it is important to analyze the roots of the democratic move and ensure that a cultural approach is undertaken to ensure that the implementation of democracy is being done through the right way. The people in Arab spring desired for a structure of government that would not be compatible with the hierarchy that was established in society as most of the people were not willing to undertake the change. Cultural approach was important as all the countries involved in the Arab spring were of Arabic origin. For democracy to prosper it has to have a strong ground which is meant to ensure that everyone is following the rule of law and some leniency is provided to those who were in power. Leniency can be found in following the rule of law rather than following the spirits of the people. If Gadhafi was preserved and imprisoned, he would have served as a symbol of how the rule of law can be used in different regions in Libya.