Arab Spring Causes

2) ARAB SPRING

Reasons for Arab spring-

1. Arab Youth-

The youth was one of the main reasons for arab spring as there was a large no of youth population in arab countries which was sitting on a demographic time bomb for decades. According to the UN development program, the population in arab countries doubled between 1975 to 2005 and Egypt consisted of 2/3rd population which was under 30 years of age.

As a result Political and economic development in most Arab states simply could not keep up with the staggering increase in the population and this incompetence of the government laid the seeds for their own demise.

2. Unemployment-

The Arab world has a long history of struggle for political change, from leftist groups to Islamist radicals.

Leaderless Revolt-

Although backed in some countries by youth activist groups and unions, the protests were initially largely spontaneous and they were not linked to any particular political party or ideologies and so it became very difficult for the government forces to arrest the people, and so the government failed to control these protests at the initial stages and so gradually it resulted in the Arab spring.

7. Social Media-

The social media proved a powerful mobilization tool that helped the activists to outwit the police. The first mass protest in Egypt was announced on facebook by an anonymous group of activists, who in a few days managed to attract tens of thousands of people which gave rise to mass protests.

8. Rallying Call of the Mosque-

The most iconic and best-attended protests took place on Fridays, when Muslim believers headed to the mosque for the weekly sermon and prayers. Although the protests were not religiously inspired, even then the mosques became the perfect starting point for mass gatherings as the authorities could cordon off the main squares and target universities, but they could not close down all the mosques.

9. Bungled State

The mass protests which started on 25th January, 2011, forced Hosni Mubarak to resign and on February 11th, after the military refused to intervene against the masses occupying the central tahrir square in cairo and this could be considered as the first chapter in the story of Egypt’s revolution which gave rise to the deep divisions over the new political system. Islamists from the freedom and justice party (FJP) won the parliamentary and presidential election in 2011-12 and their relations with the secular parties soured. Meanwhile, Egyptian military remained the single most powerful political player, and much of the old regime remained in place. The economy has been in freefall since the start of unrest.

The timeline of Egyptian revolution follows the events from the downfall of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, to the transition period leading to the first parliamentary elections in November