Current affairs as the name of the course indicates is always concerned with current world issues, however most of the topics we covered are modern day issues which began long time ago. On all of the topics we studies, the only topic which has begun most recently was the Arab Spring and though some claim it ended it is still continuing. This amazing topic which covers what happened in many Arabian countries during 2011 and 2012 was taught by Dr. Hamid. Apart from, his wonderful explanation of the topic, the lecturer brought also some videos which updated us on the topic and ensured that we all understand. I was very interesting in this topic and besides watching videos made the class exciting. Therefore, in this reflective dairy, I will discuss how the Arab revolutionary started, and how it changed the dictatorship rule in many Arab countries. My discussion is based on what I have understood from the lecture and the videos, and also some articles which I read from the internet.
The world has passed the era where the dictators ruled and the people were suppressed. Many parts of the world were swept over by waves of democracy; however, Middle East was among the few exceptions which did not enjoy freedom and democracy. There, the leaders had refused free elections and the terrible rules terrorize the population by arresting anyone who goes against them. Life becomes very hard for many people and they could not anymore tolerate the injustice and exploitation.
This lead to the eruption of the Arab spring which started in Tunisia in December, 2011 when a despairing Tunisian fruit vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi took one way out, setting himself on fire to protest the injustices of the status quo. Soon, millions of his unnamed fellows took another, pouring into the streets. Suddenly, the despots, seemingly secure in their dominion, deities in all but name, were on the run. It was not long after when the protests also started in Egypt, Libya and many other Arabian countries. The three most noticeable changes that took place during the Arab uprising were, the fall of Pharoah (Husni Mubarik), ending Qaddafi’s 40 year dynasty and also over throwing Tunisian president. This paragraph summarizes who the revolutions started and what changes they brought, and now, I would proceed to the next part which is the effects that it has brought about.
Many people including our lecturer Dr. Hamid claim that the Arab spring was a new sunrise for the region and they believed it will bring more prosperous and justice to the region. However, according to me, I totally disagree with this, and I contend that it will make the situation worse. Democrazy and liberalization is not something that can be easily achieved, rather it needs long term process. For this reason, the Middle East countries are still facing problems caused by the Arab Spring. Therefore, I am stating that it would be better if other solutions of transforming the countries were tried. Unfortunately this whole movement was controlling by the West, and the protestors were just actors in the whole process. Let us take Libya, the situation is still under control, thousands of lives were claimed and US supported the revolt just because of political interests in the region. People in Libya were living in stable country with full of resources but now chaos and violence has overshadowed the blessed country.
The Arab Spring might be good to some Arabian countries but it was not right for such a huge change to take place with a short period of time. So for this reason, many problems will arise and face the Arabian people and the new governments. The revolution might help them, but it will take long time to restore peace, wealthy and happiness to the people. In conclusion, the Arab spring was not as many people expected, and that is why I call it the mirage of the Arab spring. In my opinion, it would have been better for the Arabian countries to do the process step by step, but the rapid spring will not bring what many people expect from it.