The Arab Spring

The Arab Spring was a wave of protests, uprisings, and revolutions that swept across the Middle East and North Africa beginning in December 2010, challenging authoritarian regimes that had seemed unshakeable. Triggered by a Tunisian street vendor's self-immolation in protest against police corruption, the movement spread with extraordinary speed, fueled by social media, satellite television, and decades of accumulated frustration.

Tunisia's dictator fled within weeks. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled for 30 years, was toppled in 18 days of mass protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Libya's Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed after NATO intervened in a civil war. Yemen's president was forced from power. Protests erupted in Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, and beyond. For a brief moment, it seemed the entire Arab world might be transformed.

The results were mostly devastating. Egypt's democratic experiment lasted barely a year before a military coup. Libya descended into chaos and civil war. Syria's uprising sparked a conflict that killed over 500,000 people and displaced millions. Bahrain's protests were crushed with Saudi military assistance. Only Tunisia achieved a lasting democratic transition — and even that has since eroded. The Arab Spring demonstrated both the power of popular demand for dignity and freedom, and the enormous difficulty of building democratic institutions from authoritarian foundations.