THE ARAB SPRING

THE ARAB SPRING

B.A JAHAZIEL ALBERTO REYES GALICIA

WHAT IS THE ARAB SPRING?

THE ARAB SPRING WAS A SERIES OF PRO-DEMOCRACY UPRISINGS THAT ENVELOPED SEVERAL LARGELY MUSLIM COUNTRIES, INCLUDING TUNISIA, MOROCCO, SYRIA, LIBYA, EGYPT AND BAHRAIN. THE EVENTS IN THESE NATIONS GENERALLY BEGAN IN THE SPRING OF 2011, WHICH LED TO THE NAME. HOWEVER, THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT OF THESE POPULAR UPRISINGS REMAINS SIGNIFICANT TODAY, YEARS AFTER MANY OF THEM ENDED.THE ARAB SPRING REPRESENTED A REJECTION OF THE SECULAR, SOCIALIST, PAN-ARABISM, NATIONALIST, MILITARY REGIMES THAT HAD COME TO POWER IN THE PERIOD FROM THE 1950S THROUGH THE 1970S, AND WHICH HAVE SINCE DEVOLVED INTO LITTLE MORE THAT CORRUPT, CRONY GOVERNMENTS RULING BY BRUTE FORCE AND A PERVASIVE SECURITY APPARATUS.ULTIMATELY RESULTED IN REGIME CHANGES IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS TUNISIA, EGYPT AND LIBYA. NOT ALL OF THE MOVEMENTS, HOWEVER, COULD BE DEEMED SUCCESSFUL—AT LEAST IF THE END GOAL WAS INCREASED DEMOCRACY AND CULTURAL FREEDOM. IN FACT, FOR MANY COUNTRIES ENVELOPED BY THE REVOLTS OF THE ARAB SPRING, THE PERIOD SINCE HAS BEEN HALLMARKED BY INCREASED INSTABILITY AND OPPRESSION. GIVEN THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF THE ARAB SPRING THROUGHOUT NORTHERN AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST, IT’S EASY TO FORGET THE SERIES OF LARGE-SCALE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ARGUABLY BEGAN WITH A SINGLE ACT OF DEFIANCE.

JASMINE REVOLUTION

THE ARAB SPRING BEGAN IN DECEMBER 2010 WHEN TUNISIAN STREET VENDOR MOHAMMED BOUAZIZI SET HIMSELF ON FIRE TO PROTEST THE ARBITRARY SEIZING OF HIS VEGETABLE STAND BY POLICE OVER FAILURE TO OBTAIN A PERMIT. BOUAZIZI’S SACRIFICIAL ACT SERVED AS A CATALYST FOR THE SO-CALLED JASMINE REVOLUTION IN TUNISIA. THE STREET PROTESTS THAT ENSUED IN TUNIS, THE COUNTRY’S CAPITAL, EVENTUALLY PROMPTED AUTHORITARIAN PRESIDENT ZINE EL ABIDINE BEN ALI TO ABDICATE HIS POSITION AND FLEE TO SAUDI ARABIA. HE HAD RULED THE COUNTRY WITH AN IRON FIST FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS.

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IN 2010 MOHAMED BOUAZIZI SET HIMSELF ALIGHT IN FRONT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICES IN THE PROVINCIAL TUNISIAN TOWN OF SIDI BOUZID. UNJUSTLY HARASSED AND SLAPPED ACROSS THE FACE BY A STATE OFFICIAL FOR TRYING TO SELL FOOD FROM HIS MARKET STALL, SO THE STORY WENT, MR BOUAZIZI HAD RAGED ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ABOUT THE INJUSTICES OF A CORRUPT REGIME AND THE LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR TUNISIAN YOUTH.WEEKS LATER, THE YOUNG MAN DIED FROM HIS TERRIBLE BURNS AND THE REST IS HISTORY. BUT, JUST LIKE THE IMPERFECTIONS AND FLAWS IN TUNISIA'S SUBSEQUENT "JASMINE" REVOLUTION, MOHAMED BOUAZIZI'S STORY IS NOT QUITE THE PERFECT METAPHOR THAT MANY HAVE SINCE WRITTEN AND TALKED ABOUT.IT SEEMS THAT FOR SOME TUNISIANS, THE 26-YEAR-OLD MARTYR IS NO LONGER A POLITICAL HERO BUT A MEDIA CREATION, MANUFACTURED FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF THOSE - OUTSIDERS - WHO WAX LYRICAL ABOUT THE BIRTH OF THE ARAB SPRING. THE OFFICIAL WHO "TAUNTED" AND "SLAPPED" MOHAMED IS, ARGUABLY, ALMOST AS MUCH A VICTIM OF TUNISIA'S FORMER REGIME. FEDIA HAMDI WAS ARRESTED AND THROWN INTO JAIL, DAYS AFTER BOUAZIZI'S SELF-IMMOLATION, ON THE ORDERS OF PRESIDENT ZINE EL-ABIDINE BEN ALI - A 74-YEAR-OLD DICTATOR WHO SAW HIS AUTHORITY UNRAVELLING BEFORE HIS EYES BUT WAS POWERLESS TO PREVENT IT.

THE PERFECT SYMBOL FOR A PERFECT REVOLUTION

ARAB SPRING TIMELINE

• DECEMBER 17, 2010: MOHAMED BOUAZIZI SETS HIMSELF ON FIRE OUTSIDE A LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICE IN AN ACT OF PROTEST AFTER BEING ARRESTED BY POLICE FOR NOT HAVING A PERMIT TO RUN A VEGETABLE STALL. STREET PROTESTS BEGIN SOON AFTER HIS DEATH THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
• JANUARY 14, 2011: TUNISIAN PRESIDENT ZINE EL ABIDINE BEN ALI RESIGNS AND FLEES TO SAUDI ARABIA.
• FEBRUARY 2011: PROTESTORS IN SEVERAL PREDOMINANTLY MUSLIM COUNTRIES STAGE “DAYS OF RAGE” TO OPPOSE AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENTS AND PUSH FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS.
• FEBRUARY 11, 2011: EGYPT’S MUBARAK STEPS DOWN.
• JULY 1, 2011: MOROCCAN VOTERS APPROVE CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES THAT LIMIT THE POWER OF THE COUNTRY’S MONARCHY.
• AUGUST 20, 2011: REBELS IN LIBYA LAUNCH BATTLE TO TAKE CONTROL OF TRIPOLI.
• SEPTEMBER 23, 2011: YEMENIS HOLD A “MILLION MAN MARCH,” A LARGE-SCALE PRO-DEMOCRACY PROTEST.
• OCTOBER 20, 2011: LIBYAN DICTATOR COLONEL MUAMMAR QADDAFI IS CAPTURED BY REBELS, TORTURED AND KILLED.
• OCTOBER 23, 2011: TUNISIA HOLDS FIRST DEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS.
• NOVEMBER 23, 2011: YEMEN DICTATOR ALI ABDULLAH SALEH SIGNS A POWER-SHARING AGREEMENT. HE RESIGNS ALTOGETHER IN FEBRUARY 2012 AND IS LATER KILLED, IN 2017, WHILE THE COUNTRY IS STILL ENGULFED IN A CIVIL WAR.
• NOVEMBER 28, 2011: EGYPT HOLDS FIRST DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS FOR PARLIAMENT. IN JUNE 2012, MORSI IS ELECTED PRESIDENT, BUT IS REMOVED FROM POWER BY COUP IN JULY 2013.

TUNISIA'S PRESIDENT ZINE AL-ABIDINE BEN ALI

THE DOWNFALL OF TUNISIA'S PRESIDENT ZINE AL-ABIDINE BEN ALI INSPIRED PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS ACROSS THE ARAB WORLD. WIDESPREAD DISCONTENT AT ECONOMIC HARDSHIP, DECADES OF AUTOCRATIC RULE AND CORRUPTION ERUPTED INTO MASS DEMONSTRATIONS IN DECEMBER 2010 AFTER A YOUNG, UNEMPLOYED MAN, MOHAMED BOUAZIZI, SET FIRE TO HIMSELF AFTER OFFICIALS STOPPED HIM SELLING VEGETABLES IN SIDI BOUZID. AROUND 300 PEOPLE WERE KILLED DURING THE SUBSEQUENT UNREST, WHICH FORCED BEN ALI TO RESIGN IN JANUARY 2011, AFTER 23 YEARS IN POWER, AND GO INTO EXILE IN SAUDI ARABIA. HE WAS LATER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON IN ABSENTIA. IN OCTOBER 2011, TUNISIA HELD ITS FIRST DEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. THE MODERATE ISLAMIST ENNAHDA PARTY WON MORE THAN 41% OF THE VOTE IN THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY TASKED WITH DRAFTING A NEW CONSTITUTION. VETERAN DISSIDENT MONCEF MARZOUKI WAS THEN ELECTED PRESIDENT.

HOSNI MUBARAK

HOSNI MUBARAK RULED EGYPT FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS UNTIL HE WAS SWEPT FROM POWER IN A WAVE OF MASS PROTESTS IN FEBRUARY 2011. FEW EXPECTED THAT THE LITTLE-KNOWN VICE-PRESIDENT WHO WAS ELEVATED TO THE PRESIDENCY IN THE WAKE OF ANWAR SADAT'S 1981 ASSASSINATION WOULD HOLD ON TO THE COUNTRY'S TOP JOB FOR SO LONG. SADAT WAS ASSASSINATED BY ISLAMIST MILITANTS AT A MILITARY PARADE IN CAIRO, AND MUBARAK WAS LUCKY TO ESCAPE THE SHOTS AS HE SAT NEXT TO HIM. SINCE THEN, HE HAD SURVIVED AT LEAST SIX ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS - THE NARROWEST ESCAPE SHORTLY AFTER HIS ARRIVAL IN THE ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL, ADDIS ABABA, IN 1995 TO ATTEND AN AFRICAN SUMMIT, WHEN HIS LIMOUSINE CAME UNDER ATTACK.

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IT ALL CAME TO AN END IN A TELEVISED ADDRESS ON 1 FEBRUARY 2011, FOLLOWING MASS PROTESTS IN CAIRO AND OTHER CITIES. MR MUBARAK ANNOUNCED HE HAD DECIDED NOT TO STAND FOR RE-ELECTION LATER THAT YEAR.PROTESTS CONTINUED AND ON 10 FEBRUARY HE APPEARED ON STATE TELEVISION TO SAY HE WAS HANDING OVER POWERS TO HIS VICE-PRESIDENT, BUT WOULD REMAIN AS PRESIDENT. THE FOLLOWING DAY VICE-PRESIDENT OMAR SULEIMAN MADE A TERSE ANNOUNCEMENT SAYING MR MUBARAK WAS STEPPING DOWN AND THE MILITARY'S SUPREME COUNCIL WOULD RUN THE COUNTRY. IT ALL CAME TO AN END IN A TELEVISED ADDRESS ON 1 FEBRUARY 2011, FOLLOWING MASS PROTESTS IN CAIRO AND OTHER CITIES. MR MUBARAK ANNOUNCED HE HAD DECIDED NOT TO STAND FOR RE-ELECTION LATER THAT YEAR. PROTESTS CONTINUED AND ON 10 FEBRUARY HE APPEARED ON STATE TELEVISION TO SAY HE WAS HANDING OVER POWERS TO HIS VICE-PRESIDENT, BUT WOULD REMAIN AS PRESIDENT. THE FOLLOWING DAY VICE-PRESIDENT OMAR SULEIMAN MADE A TERSE ANNOUNCEMENT SAYING MR MUBARAK WAS STEPPING DOWN AND THE MILITARY'S SUPREME COUNCIL WOULD RUN THE COUNTRY.

HOSNI MUBARAK

MIXED SUCCESS IN EGYPT

ALONG WITH TUNISIA, EGYPT HAS BEEN VIEWED AS A VICTORY. ESRAA ABDEL FATTAH, AN EGYPTIAN DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST KNOWN AS "FACEBOOK GIRL" FOR HER SOCIAL MEDIA SAVVY, FOUGHT FOR A NEW EGYPT. SHE WAS ALSO AN ORGANIZER FOR THE MAJOR PROTEST IN TAHRIR SQUARE ON JAN. 25. WHEN PRESIDENT HONSI MUBARAK STEPPED DOWN, IT WAS THOUGHT THAT EGYPT HAD COMPLETED ITS REVOLUTION. BUT NOW, AS EGYPT STARTS ITS FIRST ROUND OF "FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS." FATTAH SAYS EGYPT IS ALREADY HAVING MAJOR SETBACKS DURING THIS PERIOD OF TRANSITION. AND DESPITE MUBARAK STEPPING DOWN, SHE SAYS, THE COUNTRY IS STILL IN THE "MUBARAK REGIME" AND LIFE IS NOT BETTER THAN IT WAS A YEAR AGO.

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MUAMMAR AL-QADDAFI (1942–2011) JOINED THE MILITARY AND STAGED A COUP TO SEIZE CONTROL OF LIBYA IN 1969, OUSTING KING IDRIS. THOUGH HIS ARAB NATIONALIST RHETORIC AND SOCIALIST-STYLE POLICIES GAINED HIM SUPPORT IN THE EARLY DAYS OF HIS RULE, HIS CORRUPTION, MILITARY INTERFERENCE IN AFRICA, AND RECORD OF HORRIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES TURNED MUCH OF THE LIBYAN POPULATION AGAINST HIM.ACCUSED OF SUPPORTING TERRORISM, IN THE LAST DECADE OF HIS RULE QADDAFI REACHED A RAPPROCHEMENT WITH WESTERN LEADERS, AND LIBYA BECAME A KEY PROVIDER OF OIL TO EUROPE. DURING THE "ARAB SPRING" OF 2011, NATO TROOPS SUPPORTED DISSIDENTS ATTEMPTING TO OVERTHROW QADDAFI'S GOVERNMENT. AFTER MONTHS ON THE RUN, ON OCTOBER 20, 2011, HE WAS KILLED IN HIS HOMETOWN OF SIRTE. IN LIBYA, QADDAFI WAS OVERTHROWN IN OCTOBER 2011, DURING A VIOLENT CIVIL WAR, AND HE WAS TORTURED (LITERALLY DRAGGED THROUGH THE STREETS) AND EXECUTED BY OPPOSITION FIGHTERS. VIDEO FOOTAGE OF HIS DEATH WAS SEEN BY MILLIONS ONLINE. HOWEVER, SINCE QADDAFI’S DOWNFALL, LIBYA HAS REMAINED IN A STATE OF CIVIL WAR, AND TWO OPPOSING GOVERNMENTS EFFECTIVELY RULE SEPARATE REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY. LIBYA’S CIVILIAN POPULATION HAS SUFFERED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THE YEARS OF POLITICAL UPHEAVAL, WITH VIOLENCE IN THE STREETS AND ACCESS TO FOOD, RESOURCES AND HEALTHCARE SERVICES SEVERELY LIMITED.

MUAMMAR AL-QADDAFI

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD OF SYRIA

AL-ASSAD OF SYRIA HAS CONFOUNDED MANY OBSERVERS BY HOLDING ON TO POWER FOR MORE THAN NINE YEARS IN THE FACE OF A REBELLION BY A LARGE PART OF THE POPULATION. UNLIKE HIS FORMER COUNTERPARTS IN TUNISIA AND EGYPT, HE GAVE ORDERS TO CRUSH THE DISSENT, RATHER THAN TOLERATE IT, AFTER PROTESTS AGAINST HIM AND HIS GOVERNMENT BEGAN IN 2011. THE BRUTAL CRACKDOWN BY THE SECURITY FORCES DID NOT, HOWEVER, STOP THE PROTESTS AND EVENTUALLY TRIGGERED AN ARMED CONFLICT THAT ACTIVISTS SAY HAS LEFT MORE THAN 380,000 PEOPLE DEAD, DISPLACED 11 MILLION OTHERS, DESTROYED CITIES AND DRAWN IN OTHER COUNTRIES.

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD OF SYRIA

RUSSIA AND IRAN HAVE HELPED TURN THE TIDE OF THE WAR DECISIVELY IN MR ASSAD'S FAVOUR SINCE 2015, HELPING HIS FORCES DEFEAT REBEL AND JIHADIST FIGHTERS IN MOST AREAS OR DRIVE THEM MAINLY INTO THE NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCE OF IDLIB, ALONG WITH THREE MILLION CIVILIANS.SIMILARLY, THE CIVIL WAR IN SYRIA THAT BEGAN IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE ARAB SPRING LASTED FOR SEVERAL YEARS, FORCING MANY TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY TO SEEK REFUGE IN TURKEY, GREECE AND THROUGHOUT WESTERN EUROPE. FOR A TIME, THE MILITANT GROUP ISIS HAD DECLARED A CALIPHATE—A NATION GOVERNED BY ISLAMIC LAW—IN NORTHEASTERN SYRIA. THE GROUP EXECUTED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, AND MANY OTHERS FLED THE REGION IN FEAR OF THEIR LIVES. YET, ALTHOUGH ISIS HAS LARGELY BEEN DEFEATED IN SYRIA, THE OPPRESSIVE REGIME OF LONG-TIME DICTATOR BASHAR AL ASSAD REMAINS IN POWER IN THE COUNTRY.

ARAB SPRING AFTERMATH

WHILE THE UPRISING IN TUNISIA LED TO SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COUNTRY FROM A HUMAN-RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE, NOT ALL OF THE NATIONS THAT WITNESSED SUCH SOCIAL AND POLITICAL UPHEAVAL IN THE SPRING OF 2011 CHANGED FOR THE BETTER. MOST NOTABLY, IN EGYPT, WHERE EARLY CHANGES ARISING FROM THE ARAB SPRING GAVE MANY HOPE AFTER THE OUSTER OF PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK, AUTHORITARIAN RULE HAS APPARENTLY RETURNED. FOLLOWING THE CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION OF MOHAMED MORSI IN 2012, A COUP LED BY DEFENSE MINISTER ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI INSTALLED THE LATTER AS PRESIDENT IN 2013, AND HE REMAINS IN POWER TODAY. THE MOST IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCE IS THREE CIVIL WARS THAT HAVE SPAWNED HORRENDOUS HUMAN COSTS, DESTABILIZED THE REGIONS AROUND THEM, AND PROVEN TO BE TRAINING GROUNDS FOR LARGE NUMBERS OF JIHADISTS. THESE CONFLICTS HAVE RESULTED IN THE SPREAD OF ILLICIT ARMS THROUGHOUT THESE REGIONS AND THE SPREAD OF JIHADIST MOVEMENTS THAT WILL BE DESTABILIZING TO SURROUNDING GOVERNMENTS.LIBYA HAS BECOME A VORTEX OF RADICAL JIHADISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE THAT IS BOTH DRAWING IN A BROAD AREA OF NORTH AFRICA FROM MOROCCO TO SOMALIA, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME SPEWING UNREST THROUGHOUT THE REGION. SYRIA HAS BECOME A SOURCE OF REFUGEES THAT IS SWAMPING EUROPE AND RAISING SERIOUS SECURITY CONCERNS THERE. WHILE YEMEN, EVEN MORE SO THAN SYRIA, HAS BECOME A BITTER PROXY CONTEST BETWEEN SAUDI ARABIA AND IRAN.

TEN YEARS LATER, LITTLE REMAINS OF THE HOPES THAT THE WEST SAW IN THE ARAB SPRING. 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 REALITY IS THAT THE ARAB SPRING WAS NEVER THE POPULAR DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THAT WESTERN GOVERNMENTS OR THE MEDIA MADE IT OUT TO BE. IN FACT, THE ARAB SPRING HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH DEMOCRACY; ALTHOUGH IT CERTAINLY INCLUDED SOME LIBERAL-DEMOCRATIC GROUPS. IT WAS INSTEAD A REACTIONARY MOVEMENT LED PRIMARILY BY CONSERVATIVE, RELIGIOUS AND ISLAMIST ELEMENTS AGAINST SECULAR ARAB REGIMES.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROTEST MOVEMENTS, THERE WAS A LOT OF EXCITEMENT IN THE WESTERN MEDIA ABOUT THE ROLE OF INNOVATIONS LIKE TWITTER AND FACEBOOK, PARTLY BECAUSE WESTERN JOURNALISTS LIKE TWITTER AND FACEBOOK THEMSELVES. THOSE NEW SOCIAL MEDIA HAVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN COUNTRIES LIKE SAUDI ARABIA, WHERE THEY ALLOW PEOPLE TO CIRCUMVENT THE HIDEBOUND OFFICIAL MEDIA AND START SOME KIND OF NATIONAL DEBATE.THEY HAD A ROLE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE UPRISINGS TOO, BUT THEIR USE WAS CONFINED LARGELY TO A WELL-EDUCATED AND AFFLUENT (AND OFTEN MULTILINGUAL) LIBERAL ELITE AND THEIR VIEWS MAY HAVE BEEN OVER-REPORTED FOR A TIME. THOSE SECULAR LIBERALS AFTER ALL WERE TROUNCED AT THE BALLOT BOX IN EGYPT. SATELLITE TV REMAINS MORE IMPORTANT IN COUNTRIES WHERE MANY PEOPLE CAN'T READ AND WRITE AND DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.

OVERRATED POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA?

• ARAB SPRING: 10 UNPREDICTED OUTCOMES (2013) BBC. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.BBC.COM/NEWS/WORLD-MIDDLE-EAST-25212247
• ARAB SPRING (2020) HISTORY. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.HISTORY.COM/TOPICS/MIDDLE-EAST/ARAB-SPRING
• ARAB UPRISING: COUNTRY BY COUNTRY – TUNISIA (2013) BBC. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.BBC.COM/NEWS/WORLD-12482315
• DAVIES W. (2011) BBC. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.BBC.COM/NEWS/WORLD-MIDDLE-EAST-13800493
• MICALLEF J. V. (2018) THE ARAB SPRING: SIX YEARS LATER. HUFFPOST. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.HUFFPOST.COM/ENTRY/THE-ARAB-SPRING-SIX-YEARS_B_14461896
• MUAMMAR AL-QADDAFI (2020) BIOGRAPHY. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM/POLITICAL-FIGURE/MUAMMAR-AL-QADDAFI
• PROFILE: HOSNI MUBARAK (2017) BBC. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.BBC.COM/NEWS/WORLD-MIDDLE-EAST-12301713
• SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD: FACING DOWN REBELLION (2020 BBC. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.BBC.COM/NEWS/10338256
• THE ARAB SPRING: A YEAR OF REVOLUTION (2011) NPR. ACCESSED ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2021. AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.NPR.ORG/2011/12/17/143897126/THE-ARAB-SPRING-A-YEAR-OF-REVOLUTION

REFERENCES

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