Causes and Effects of the Arab Spring on Egypt and Syria, Research Paper Example

Introduction

In the last decades or so, social media has been a tool that has help to lead many revolts and protests. Social media has become a tool of information and power that helps coordinates such movements.  Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and others have served as online activists to engage the public support in fighting repression they would have had no knowledge of. Arab Uprisings in recent years have been largely influenced by social media and therefore it is important to analyze how this occurrence has impacted civil society in Egypt and Syria. Arab Uprising began in December 2010 and quickly spread to various areas in the Middle East. The people in the Middle East have been experiencing social injustice at the hands of unjust rulers for decades. These leaders ruled without consideration for its citizens. Revolts and protests gained more popularity due to social media, a tool that members of previous protests did not have at their disposal. The use of social media tools in Egypt and Syria helped protesters start and expand their protests because it allowed them gain new information and coordinate their cause.  Although social media is not the main reason that Arab uprisings  occurred, media played a dominant role in the success of the revolution.

Literature Review

There are many theories that suggest that civil society and social movements are linked in a very intimate way. One seems to positively affect the other-civil societies are the foundation for social movement. For example, “Civil society initiatives and social movements are social processes which undergo several stages of progression from mobilization to intensive collective action.” (Ajami, 1995The Relative Deprivation Theory (RDT) has been applied to the uprisings in the Middle East. According to this theory, when members of society feel that they are being unjustifiably mistreated, they can take violent actions to reach the goal of the group. Simone (Cannistraro, 2011) states that “Tocqueville and Marx, in the nineteenth century, used the idea of relative deprivation in their respective analyses of The French Revolution and the problems associated with the rise of capitalism and personal property and this is the same with the Arab spring discussed above and it can be argued that RDT is often associated with revolt and revolutions” (Cannistaro, 2011) This alone demonstrates that social movements stem from democratic societies.

In Egypt people were chanting slogans such as “the people want to bring down the regime” and “leave or go” during the Arab Uprisings in 2011. Egypt was the second country to join in the revolt against the government. Egypt had been ruled by Muhammad Hosni Said Mubarak for thirty years. He became the president without a democratic election. He was forced to leave office in February of 2011. People in Egypt began showing opposition against the government as early as the 1970s. They have been battling the regimes for over forty years. With the widespread use of technology, like the Internet help Arabs win democracy. For example, the young person who initiated the protests in Egypt was well educated in Egypt and other parts of the world. This was an advantage because he was familiar with democracies where everyone had freedoms and rights. Support from all over the world also fueled the movement. For example,

“Globalization and technology such as the Internet also assisted in creating this sense of deprivation as the Internet and foreign media would criticize regimes such as Mubarak’s and influence these young people even further by showing alternatives and ways to change this” (  Bajoria, 2012  )

Consequently, 18 days of broadcast showing what was taking place during the protests.

Cedric Dupont and Florence Passy(The Arab Spring or How to Explain those Revolutionary Episodes, 2011) said that “People need to develop a frame of indignation, a shared perceived  identity with contenders as well as the sentiment that they could bring about social and political changes”(Dupont and Passy, 2011). Social media provided them with the confidence that they could accomplish this. Because the inequalities between the rulers and working class so great, protesters felt they had no choice action better than fighting back. The Egyptian people often chanted “They are eating pigeon and chicken, and we are eating beans all the time” and the Syrians chanted, “The richest country in the world and the poorest people in the world”, during what was called the “Bread Riots” (  McCarthy, & Zald, 2007)    ). In both Egypt and Syria, there was such an inequality in economics, there was a drastic increase in homelessness and unemployment, the citizens were literally starving to death. To add to the inequality, food prices were inflated which only increased the grievances the people had with the regimes.  The “Bread Riots” took place in 1977, 1985, and 2008.

Lynch conveyed the role of publicity functioning civil society. This tactic has been used numerous times well before the invention of Facebook or cellular phones. One prime example of how the media can assist oppression is the Civil Rights Movement in the South during the 50s and60s. Jim Crow laws had existed in places like Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia for decades. However, until this issue became a public problem or until people actually saw what African Americans were going through, many people just did not understand. Others did not realize that the situation was so severe. With the help of media and non-violent protests, African Americans were able to help produce a civil society. Nonetheless, these protesters were on the front lines of danger. Many were killed. The Arab Uprisings are no less dangerous, however “protesters have the ability to publicly take part in civil society while perhaps remaining more private that they would under conventional methods of communication: (Lynch, 2011)

One of the main causes of the Arab Uprising was unemployment. Egypt was in a financial crisis and people who did not have jobs were the key players in the uprisings. Many well-educated young people were unable to find jobs. According to Mabrouk, “People, especially youth, get very rebellious without economic potentials. As educated people know how to organize themselves and as they also felt so much deprivation, therefore their fear was minimized” (Mabrouk, 2011).  Khaled Said and Mohamed Bouzazi killed themselves for what the deemed as democracy and human rights. Social media circuits went viral with details and footage of the event. This sparked many people to get involved with the movement. The ideology was if two young men would kill themselves to get needed attention, surely they could protest by discussing the issues using blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media. The negative publicty that Egypt gained after this event was a financial blow. Prior to this, Egypt had been a popular tourist country. Between January and June of 2011 tourist revenue dropped 39 percent (   Carey and Salalma, 2011)

Method and Approach

Social media played a dominant role in the Arab uprising. In most Middle East countries, the media is controlled by the government and is heavily censored. Internet services were provided by state owned companies. In Syria, the Internet was introduced to the general public in 2000 as a part of plans to modernize by President Bashar al-Assad (Toeensing, 2011).  A similar situation occurred in Egypt as well. However, as more and more people became acclimated to the new technology, the regimes loss power and control over its usage. There were just too many people using this new technology to keep up with what they were doing. The people of the Middle East have been oppressed and separate for decades. This new technology gave different sects, tribes, and clans the opportunity to communicate which transcended social boundaries. Many historian agree that the introduction of this technology was the beginning of the revolution in the Middle East. (). Social media tools gave protesters the power to collaborate and learn from each other. This eradicated the problems that previous protest groups had encountered. In past attempted revolts, there were problems with coordination and organization of protests. With the tool of social media, protesters communicated with the regimes knowledge and showed up to designated areas ready to protest.  This allowed groups to form and protest without leaders. When groups do not have designated leaders, it makes it difficult for regimes to target the leaders and eradicate the groups.

Social media also allowed people to see the violence that protesters were enduring and this inclined more people to join in the cause. Surprisingly, many of these protesters were foreigners who were not under oppressive regimes. Social media was a great aid in the mobilization of resources, as well as a way to break up the monopoly of regime to censor what people watched or listened to.  For example, “Essentially, the leaderless protests in Egypt were afforded by the breakdown in government-controlled national opinion, made possible through global technology available to almost everyone” ( Anderson, 2011 ). The use of social media is a clear indicator that the uprisings were supported by younger members of the society.  Many coined it the “youth revolutions” The effects of the media was halted in some cases by the regimes traditional methods of submission-physical intimidation. In some cases, government officials would rally at Internet cafes.  In other extreme cases the completely shut down  or controlled the areas. One protester was quoted saying, “We use Facebook to schedule, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world” (Anderson, 2011).

Analysis

The uprisings in Egypt and Syria have had a wide variety of outcomes.  It clear that change will not occur overnight for a Nation that has been in turmoil for decades. Everyone is unsure what will be the final outcome in the Middle East. After the overthrowing of Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood won over two-third of the seats in the democratic vote. Citizens are afraid that they Brotherhood will consume power and rule just as Mubarak did.  The military has been in charge since Mubarak was overthrown. They have been ruling through an 18-member council. They have promised to relinquish to the next ruler. Unfortunately,

“Egypt’s first democratically-elected parliament in over half a century met on 1/23/12 for the first time, while thousands of demonstrators celebrated and protested outside. In a June run-off election, Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, won the presidency. The military, however, redefined the post of president, stripping it of most of its former powers.” (Bajoria, 2012)

This has left Egypt’s citizens feeling as if they have won little for the ultimate price they paid in the uprisings-many died. On major step forward, is the fact that women in some parts of the Middle East have been granted the right to vote. Many women were beaten and humiliated as they marched and protests in Tahrir Square trying to gain those rights in 2011. Ex-President Mubarak was ordered to be hanged for the involuntary death of hundreds of protesters.

Conclusions

Poverty, monopoly of power, corruption, and repression are just a few reasons why Arab uprisings were eminent. However, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and others have directly affected the extent to which Egypt and Syria are to become civil societies. The use of social media was a great tool for the protester. A group of about 10-12 young, professionals are responsible for organizing the Arab Uprisings by simply posting on a Facebook page. They used Twitter to spread the word about the violence and brute force police were using; they used YouTube to help demonstrate it to the whole world. The government tried shutting down Internet services, but the blackout ended in just five days. Most importantly, the organizers use nonviolent strategies which gained the moral support of the outside world. Over half of the citizens in parts of the Middle East were living on 2 dollars a day. Meanwhile, Mubarak’s wealth was estimated to be between 1 and 70 billion dollars (Anderson, 2011).  Although the specific details about the injustice vary from state to state, citizens’ grievances were nearly identical.  The internet allowed the citizens to see that not the entire world was treated like they were being treated. This ignited the spark needed to fight back.

References

Anderson, L., (2011) ‘Demystifying the Arab Spring -Parsing the Differences Between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya’, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 90, (3)

Ajami, F (1995) `The Sorrows of Egypt´, Foreign Affairs, 74 (5)

Cannistraro, V. (2011) ‘Arab Spring: A Partial Awakening’, Mediterranean Quarterly, 22 (4), pp. 36-45

Bajoria, J., (2012) ‘Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’, The Council on Foreign Relations, 25 June

Carey, G., Salama, V. (2011) ‘Middle East Leaders Address Unemployment in Arab Spring Wake’, Bloomberg Buinessweek, 21, October

Dupont, C., Passy, F. (2011) ‘The Arab Spring or How to Explain those Revolutionary Episodes’, Swiss Pilitical Science Review, Vol 17 (4)

Lynch, M., (2011) The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East, Public Affairs New York.

Mabrouk, M. (2011), `A Revolution for Dignity and Freedom: Preliminary Observations on the Social and Cultural Background to the Tunisian Revolution´, The Journal of North African Studies, Vol. 16  (4)

McCarthy, J., and Zald, M., (2007) `Resource mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory’, The American Journal of Sociology, 82 (6)

Toeensing, C., (2011) ‘Tunisian Labour Leaders Reflect Upon Revolt’, Middle East Research and Information Project – People Power, Vol. 21 Spring