Essay Question 1: How has the Arab Spring fundamentally changed Middle Eastern society and the evolution of future politics in the region?.
The implications of this movement have resulted in a global impact that crosses borders, oceans and continents, significantly affecting the social, political, and economic status of each country involved. This movement affects not only the future of those countries, but also the rest of the world due to the changing of fundamental beliefs at a national and geopolitical level. To be sure, political reform and economic reforms are intertwined, especially in developing and under-developed countries in particular, so accordingly, for either to succeed, it is essential to move on both tracks simultaneously.
I. Background.
The Arab Spring is the name that has been given to the recent wave of protests, civil wars, and political unrest in the Arab region of the world. The Arab Spring protests began on 18 December 2010 and have continued since. To date, rulers have been forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen; civil uprisings have erupted in Bahrain and Syria; and major protests have broken out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Sudan. Some characteristics of this revolutionary movement are the key role of social media, difference of results in monarchies and dictatorial political setups, and the containment of the dissent to the Muslim world. On the global level, a new era of competition among the superpowers for influence in this as yet disorganized region, as part of the future world order has begun; and this competition over regional influence in the Middle East has the potential to lead to global instability through the expansion of this competition to new areas. .
II. Issues.
Without political reform, the dangers of political instability and economic stagnation within the Arab Spring countries are a major concern. Economic liberalization is the first step towards political reform and hence to democratization.
