Relevance of the Jasmine Revolution and the Arab Spring 2011

Annotated from NPR article linked at the bottom:

The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia (a French colony, btw) started when a street vendor, and primary breadwinner for his family, was told he could not sell his fruit without a permit. Unable to provide for his large family, he set himself on fire in front of the govt office. I'm not sure how that helped his family, but the video went viral! And it led to a bunch of protests, a President step-down, and regime-change in Tunisia, 2011. Egypt followed same year in revolution, led by youth/secular activists, but after President Mubarak stepped down, the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group, was voted into power.

Self-Immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi

 

While the youth focused on ousting the regime, political groups prepared to seize the impending power vacuum. The MB was popular, well-organized, and ready to win/dominate elections. Arab world, religiously conservative, want Islam in life affairs. Islamist groups want to enforce Sharia Law, oppressive to women. So far, revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain.



This period of revolutions was known as the "Arab Spring." It was followed by a period of wide-scale violence and political instability in the region, known as the "Arab Winter." Destabilized by rebel groups, like Houthis in Yemen, who ousted the new government while it was still fragile.




The Jasmine Revolution and Arab Spring in 2011 were uniquely Arab upheavals, other ethnic groups were not involved. Thus, these political stirrings are invariably connected to ISIS, current Middle Eastern instability, and international terror.


Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/17/143897126/the-arab-spring-a-year-of-revolution

Related post: "The Connection between Middle Eastern occupation and Southeast Asian occupation."