On the evolutions of the Arab Spring
in Regions and Cohesion
Abstract
This article looks back at the 2011 Arab Spring where the movements that brought hope to the region and beyond seem to have gone astray. The military has taken over in Egypt, while Libya, Syria and Yemen have descended into civil strife with tremendous human costs. Bahrain has witnessed repression that has overwhelmed the opposition, and while Tunisia, the country where Arab Spring began, has avoided the violence characterizing the aforementioned states, change has remained rather limited. As for other countries that rode on the same wave of mobilizations, hopes for democratic transformation have been subdued in some-what less violent contexts but with varying degrees of pressure from the state. This article examines what has happened to the Arab Spring countries, why and what is required to democratically transform the region.
Contributor Notes
GILBERTO CONDE is associate professor at the Center for Asian and African Studies of El Colegio de México and teaches history, geography and politics of the Middle East. He authored Turquía, Siria e Iraq: Entre amistad y geopolítica, El Colegio de México, 2013, edited Siria en el torbellino: Insurrección, guerras y geopolítica, El Colegio de México, 2017, and was the guest editor of “A changing of seasons? The Arab Spring revolts and past uprisings, Regions and Cohesion, vol. 2, num. 3, special issue, winter 2012. E-mail: gilberto.conde@colmex.mx