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The crushed hopes of the Arab Spring

Wave of uprisings reaches one year mark with little progress towards modern democracy.

AN IAF plane takes part in joint maneuvers with It
Photo by: Courtesy
On December 18 one year ago, a popular uprising erupted in Tunisia after a policewoman slapped a fruit vendor in a small town’s open market. The humiliating act unleashed a wave of protests that has now challenged oppressive regimes throughout the Arab world. Quickly dubbed the “Arab Spring,” the political upheavals have since ignited several civil wars, frayed Arab societies along tribal, ethnic and sectarian lines, and toppled three tyrants, with two more still in serious jeopardy. Yet a revolution launched by downtrodden citizens and hopefilled youths seeking democratic freedoms has turned into a messy, violent and drawn-out transition to what increasingly looks like a future dominated by Islamist rule.

A sudden wildfire
 The surge of street protests stirred when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight in the town of Sidi Bouzid one year ago, and rapidly spread from Tunisia to Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain before triggering civil wars in Libya and Syria. Several long-serving Arab rulers quickly fell like dominoes, while others have clung to power in bloody government crackdowns.

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