While egyptian dictator hosni mubarak was being toppled in february 2011, the arab spring struck in bahrain as 100,000 protesters filed into manamas pearl roundabout for three days of protests calling for democracy reforms to the longstanding rule of the al khalifa monarchy. Bahrain, oman, saudi arabia and although only slightly the uae. Jan 29, 2018 six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. Beginning in february 2011, before troubling protests broke out in several. The arab spring has had an important social and economic impact on the arab world. Shia political identity in saudi arabia and bahrain. In sectarian gulf, toby matthiesen paints a very different picture, offering the first assessment of the arab spring across the region.
Mar 29, 2021 bahrain, small arab state situated in a bay on the southwestern coast of the persian gulf. The arab spring is therefore both a domestic and a foreign policy issue in saudi arabia. In the fall of 2010, parliamentary elections in bahrain. Bahrain and yemen jeopardizing the respective current government one way or the other. Correspondingly, the gamut of state responses ran from tacticalpreemptive political. The islands territorial position in the persian gulf not only makes it a key contending regional power but also determines its geostrategic position as a.
The implications of the arab spring on surviving regional powers has been overshadowed by geopolitical and geostrategic interests. It serves as both an eyewitness account to the initial phase of the arab spring, as demands for reform cascaded across parts of the gulf states, and an analysis of how and why the regional counterrevolution succeeded in isolating and fracturing the burgeoning protest movements. Arab spring, wave of prodemocracy protests and uprisings that took place in the middle east and north africa beginning in 2010, challenging some of the regions entrenched authoritarian regimes. After longruling autocrats were toppled in tunisia and egypt in early 2011, a wave of public protests against authoritarianism, corruption, and state incompetence swept across the arab world. As a revolutionary wave, it has empowered therevisionists and weake quoned the status alignment. It has been inhabited since ancient times and was the seat of the ancient sumerian kingdom of dilmun. Bahrain, saudi arabia, and the arab spring that wasnt is an important book. From tunisia, the protests then spread to five other countries. Central to bahrains crackdown on prodemocracy protests has been the use of special military courts as well as civilian courts. The arab spring created uncertainty for the economy. Bahrain arab spring libguides at university of illinois at urbana.
The political upheavals in the arab world during 2011 have irrevocably transformed the middle east. T he events that began in tunisia in january 2011 and spread to egypt and then libya, jordan, morocco, bahrain, syria, and beyond, shook the. Bahrain and the global balance of power after the arab spring. The initial arab protests were accompanied by a heady mix of simultaneous confusion and celebration, exemplified in words like awakening, revolution, and spring, which created an energized, if anomalous, space that was charged with the possibility of. Mar 05, 2021 the protests in bahrain in 2011 came amid similar movements in tunisia and egypt, now known as the arab spring. Nov 09, 2020 this pdf document is a list of the arabic materials that are available at the university of illinois in regards to bahrain s role in the arab spring. The arab spring in the monarchies has ranged from virtually none in the uae to largescale and often violent protests aiming to overthrow the regime in bahrain. A bumpy road ahead pdf by hassan hakimian, director of the london middle east institute and reader, economics department, soas underscores the underlying importance of the economic conditions facing the new republics, such as egypt and tunisia, which are emerging as a result of the arab spring.
These events were prolific in the politicization amongst the gulf shia. Bahrain suffered dramatically from the protests and unrest and it will require a lot of effort from the government to recover. Chinese economic statecraft and the quest for stability in the contemporary middle east december 2012 dr kunchin lin and professor rory miller. International response to the arab spring has varied depending on the geopolitical and strategic position of the country, nowhere has this been more prevalent than in the case of bahrain. Monarchies have largely weathered popular discontent. However, the recent arab uprisings, better known as the arab spring, have intensified volatility. Many of the arab spring countries bahrain, yemen, jordan, egypt, morocco. The arab spring of discontent einternational relations.
Shallow reforms and inequitable socioeconomic development with the exception of bahrain, the arab uprisings have been thus far limited to republics, namely tunisia, egypt, libya, yemen and syria. Ghassan ben jeddo, who had been the head of the beirut bureau before resigning in april 2011, said that al jazeera was biased in covering the arab spring, especially in syria and bahrain. In the years prior to the arab spring, qatars leaders had nurtured a growing reputation as a nonstop mediator to carve out a niche for itself in regional diplomacy. Cnn aired the documentary only once in the united states and not at all on cnn international. In spring 2011 it quickly announced enormous direct and indirect payments to the population, in order to. But the protests in the country have raised concerns that it will evict u. These movements collectively came to be dubbed the arab spring, the arab revolution or the arab awakening souza and lipietz 2011. With the arab spring in the background for much of the gcc, and very much in the foreground in bahrain, moves to placate through economic concessions have been afoot in kuwait, bahrain, and especially saudi arabia. Demonstrators expressing political and economic grievances faced violent crackdowns by their countries security forces. Of the four major arab spring protests analyzedtunisia, egypt, libya, and bahrain large differences were found across the four in the amount of information consumed via social media.
The arab spring effect on labor politics in bahrain and oman. One can see the street at work in iraq, jordan, bahrain, kuwait, and elsewhere. The middle east and north africa mena have long been laden with tensions and instabilities. Instead, that spring has given way to a winter of economic stagnation and political violence that has plunged syria, libya and yemen into bloody civil war, has led to widespread unrest in egypt, iraq and bahrain, and threatens to destabilize arab governments from morocco to saudi arabia. The regional revolution saw regime change in tunisia, egypt, and yemen, and civil wars in libya and, at the time of writing this, ongoing in syria. The arab spring wave in the beginning of 2011 that hit middle eastern countries, started from tunisia, egypt, libya, yemen, and syria, which still continue to this day, is a symbol of the fall of. The amount of research on the economies of the middle east and the arab world has expanded lately, especially in light of the as. From the earliest stages, the bahraini government, which is closely aided by other gulf cooperation council gcc countries, framed the protests as an iran. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
I do believe that al jazeera and other channels were not balanced in dealing with the events, he said. Arab regimes had been sitting on a demographic time bomb. The role of social media in the arab spring, a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests in the middle east and north africa between 2010 and 2012, remains a highly debated subject. The youth bulge and arab unemployment the arab world has been facing a demographic trap for nearly three decades. The aim of this chapter is to examine the use of the social media by the bahraini antigovernment movement since the outbreak of the arab spring in bah rain in 2011 till the present day.
Hence in my thesis, i analyse bahrain as a critical case of the arab spring. Search strategies this list of keywords and phrases will allow you to hone your search for materials on syria during the arab spring. The arab spring has fundamentally altered the middle east and north africa mena. With firsthand accounts of events in bahrain, saudi arabia, and kuwait, matthiesen tells the story of the early protests, and. This research will be a case study of the shia of saudi arabia and bahrain. In order to do so we will perform a comprehensive literature study of relevant academic books, scientific articles and other current publications.
The arab spring revolt against syrias assad regime continues. Since the arab spring, much of the literature about shia identity tend to focus on the 1979 iranian revolution and the 2003 toppling of saddam hussein in iraq. This article appears in the foreign affairs cfr ebook, the new arab revolt. At home the saudi leadership is pursuing a carrotandstick strategy. It is widely believed to rebound in the near future. The daily beast answers six key questions about the uprising. The common slogan of the protesters throughout arab spring was the people want to bring down the regime aissa, 2012. Uprisings occurred in states regardless of their levels of internet usage, with some states with high levels of internet usage such as bahrain, with 88% of its population online in 2011 experiencing. The arab spring uprisings have sharpened the regional division in two ways. Assessing the arab spring in its second year by mohammed ayoob, april 6, 2012 the arab spring is now over one year old. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in tunisia.
Widely circulated pdfs of tip sheets explained how to pull off a. The armed forces played a decisive role in many of the arab. Social media have served as an outlet for social movement to propagate ideas, mobilize members for collective action and coordinate activism. Cnn produced a documentary about the use of internet technology and social media in the arab spring, including a minute segment on the bahraini uprising that reported repressive conduct by the government. Impact of arab spring on bahrain college of wooster. Jul 17, 2012 international response to the arab spring has varied depending on the geopolitical and strategic position of the country, nowhere has this been more prevalent than in the case of bahrain. Youth frustration and the arab spring 5 spring will require the participation of youth, as well as policies and programs that address the concerns of youth in both the short and longterm. Media and politics in the wake of the arab uprisings. Part of bahraini uprising of 2011, arab spring, and the iransaudi arabia proxy conflict. Analysis of the arab spring 3 blunders in state response, in particular using a heavyhanded approach and trying to crush opposition, had the reverse effect of galvanising more people to join the protests icg, 2011b and 2011d. As popular uprisings spread across the middle east, popular wisdom often held that the gulf states would remain beyond the fray. Mar 04, 2021 bahrain was among arab nations that signed normalisation agreements with israel in 2020 during the trump administration. Bahrain arab spring libguides at university of illinois. These developments have been consolidated by the arab spring, where us support for reform and democracy in egypt and north africa has pushed the.
Influenced by protests in egypt and tunisia, protestors took to the streets of manama, bahrain s capital. This pdf document is a list of the arabic materials that are available at the university of illinois in regards to syrias role in the arab spring. Sectarianism and power maintenance in the arab spring. This thesis explores several dimensions of domestic and international politics related to the arab spring. Syria arab spring libguides at university of illinois. Pdf international response to bahrains arab spring. The arab spring and saudi arabias counteracting democracy strategy. In much of the popular analysis over the past year the term arab spring has become the defining characteristic of the new middle east emerging from decades of authoritarian and repressive rule.
Executions in idlib governorate execution of fighters in first defense line, march 11, 2012 mass executions at the bilal mosque, march 11, 2012 executions of four residents in ayn larouz village, midmarch 2012 execution of two. Gcc has played an important role in supporting the arab spring in other arab. However, the success of bahrain s f1 events, along with its other investment sectors, has not been immune from the effects of the arab spring. A 2021 report from bird pdf commemorating the widespread demonstrations said that within days of the first protests, the rulers of bahrain responded with unrestrained repression, the brutality and scale of which was unprecedented. The arab future will not be decided by those who launched the arab spring. Arab spring used their powers vehemently to crush the demonstrators and consequently the peaceful protesters also became violent. Syria arab spring libguides at university of illinois at. Apr 05, 2011 for years, pentagon officials took comfort in the relative stability of bahrain, which serves as a major base for the u. Iran and turkey celebrated the arab spring as an islamic awakening that would bring more islamistoriented governments.
These policies represented the capstone of a decade and a half of reformulating qatari foreign policy. In spring 2011 it quickly announced enormous direct and indirect payments to the population, in order to avert protests. Externally, it considers iran to be a potential existential threat, and bahrain is also taking part in operations against yemeni rebels. Bahrain, al khalifa, shia, emirate, arab spring, gulf oxford scholarship online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. This pdf document is a list of the arabic materials that are available at the university of illinois in regards to bahrains role in the arab spring. In bahrain and syria, the clash was mainly between the shia and sunni groups.
Causes of the arab spring causes of the arab spring may be described as following. Looking in depth at two states that have had significantly different outcomes from the uprisings tunisia and bahrain the article analyses. What we would like to find out is why the arab spring reached bahrain in the first place. Across the region, economies have been negatively affected, with rising unemployment rates, decreased foreign investment and tourism, and interruptions in exports. Since 1783 it has been ruled by the khalifah family. Ideas reports special reports, kitchen, nicholas ed. The arab street has become an increasingly loud voice after 40 years of haunting silenceand not only in tunisia and egypt. The revolutions and unrests in the country have affected the economy adversely. Yet, as the year draws to a close and the euphoria subsides, it is clear that comparisons of the arab spring to the end of communism in eastern europe in 1989 were premature. This paper investigates money and inflation in the kingdom of bahrain with a focus on the period of the arab spring as, 2011, to determine the effects of social unrest on general and relative prices. Looking in depth at two states that have had significantly different outcomes from the uprisings tunisia and bahrain the article analyses the factors that have led to the toppling of a regime in one. Saudiiranian rivalry in bahrains and yemens arab spring scielo. This collection should be of considerable interest to students of international relations, particularly those with an interest in the politics of the middle east and north africa.
The arab spring has severely affected the countries associated with north africa and the middle east especially bahrain. The protests in bahrain in 2011 came amid similar movements in tunisia and. Dissatisfaction with government services in arab spring. Hundreds of protesters denouncing the saudiled intervention in bahrain in a march to the saudi embassy in manama on 15 march 2011.
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