Arab Spring’s Effect on Region’s Society

During the year 2010, a distressed vendor demonstrated his contempt for the social inequality imposed by the government by setting himself ablaze (Anderson, Kurt). Inspired by this man’s actions, the rest of the country of Tunisia broke out in a revolution that spread quickly across the country. By protesting against the government, the Tunisians demonstrated to the world that Arabs were ready to take control of their countries, thus, putting a start to the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring is acknowledged by other countries around the world as an enlightenment of the Arab world.

The movement could also be seen as a rise in arms for the fight of freedom for a region that desperately needs it. Arabs in the region rose in protest to bring to light the injustice being done in their countries, but this social unrest has been around for longer than what has been televised. Problems in their society had been going on for as long as its existence. The Arabs social order was centered on a caste system. With this system, each citizen was bound to a certain class with no hope of social mobility.

It was because of this that nearly everyone in the region believed that it was the time that they sought to gain control of the situation. The source of the Arabs disappointments are those in lack of jobs, rising food prices, corrupt government, and lack of political freedom. Amongst all of these problems, the main cause of their disparity stems from the overall steady decline of the economy in the Arab region. From the eye of the beholder, this so called revolution does seem like a necessity and could very well be the pivotal point in the future of the Arab world.

Unfortunately, what they have been working so hard to improve has actually worsened the Arab society since the beginning of the Arab Spring. Countries in the west and other regions that are not participants of the Arab Spring have been watching the demonstration from the sidelines. These nations, including the United States, have been keeping track of the numerous events throughout the movement by using various methods of viewership. News networks, CNN and Fox News, have made great use of this technology to keep track of the events of the Arab Spring.

In effect, it was the influence of the media that has been giving the Arab Spring movement a foothold and allows it to continually have momentum in spreading the cause. The news networks along with social networks aid the demonstrators to spread their influence globally. In addition, it was the Arab Spring that inspired the creation of the Occupy Movement in the United States (McCain 2012). Those who participate in the Occupy Movement protest movement, argue against the social and economic inequality in the country that they live in. The Arab Spring’s influence is clearly seen in the Occupy Movement’s primary goal.

This goal is to make the economic structure and power relations in society fairer for all in the country; however, this movement is on a smaller scale compared to the movement taking place in the Arab world. Put simply, it is a weaker or a childish form in relation to the Arab Spring due to the fact that it lacks the darker sides to protest. What started as a peaceful demonstration, has quickly took a turn for the worst. Almost all of the protests and demonstrations of the Arab Spring have ended in major or minor clashes between protestors and governmental police.

Hundreds have been killed, and many others are continually being injured. Those not willing to stick around for the violence are fleeing their homes. It has been estimated that during March of last year that about 1,000 people per hour were fleeing to Egypt and Tunisia to escape violence and social disorder in Libya (Koser). In total, more than a million people have left their homes over the last year as a result of the impact of the Arab Spring across North Africa and the Middle East. In Tunisia and Egypt, about 450, 000 citizens have been displaced, and there have been 300,000 in Libya by itself.

In the country Syria, the current estimate for displacement in and from Syria is at least 150,000 (Koser). There are many more displaced in other countries as well as those mentioned. If the current situation insists, the amount of people being displaced will continue to rise rapidly. The displacement of people in the region has had a direct affect on the well-being of each country, but there are other problems that are making matters worse for the Arab Spring region. There is an old phrase that many have heard sometime in their life, yet in the case of the Arab Spring it is truly relevant: “Freedom is not free. This phrase is short and straight to the point, and those partaking in the Arab Spring have come to understand that this statement is true. A country’s economy is what determines how much influence that country is going to have on the global market. Although the Arab Spring’s main goal was to improve the livelihood of Arab citizens, the economy of the Middle East has suffered greatly since the start of the Arab Spring movement. In an article, Peter Apps explains that economists have stated that the total costs have been found to be in a $55 billion range and is still rising (Kenneth).

The Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) has released plenty of figures that show grave financial losses sustained by all the countries affected by the Arab Spring. The losses suffered in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and Syria have so far amounted to 100 billion U. S. dollars, said Mohamed al-Rabei, secretary general of the CAEU (Al Arabiya). Ever since the Arab Spring has begun, there has been a widespread decrease in revenues due to decrease in production and a reduction in exports. There has been a decrease in production due to many of the labor force in the Middle East joining in the demonstration to protest.

With all the workers leaving to protest, companies in the region have begun to suffer from adverse effects. In an Arab banking conference held in Rome, the Jordan finance minister Muhammad Abu Hammour said that up to $500 million a week is being lost in the Arab world (Lubnani). Since the wave of protest began, the tourism sector, an important component of the economy, suffered a 45 percent decline in Egypt and Tunisia (Nehad Ismail). In Syria, tourism has definitely been hit hard as well. Even the neighboring country, Lebanon, is feeling the impact of a weaker tourist activity; however, it does not stop there.

Western countries are also being affected economically. Along with inspiring the start of Occupy Movement in the United States, the Arab Spring has also negatively affected the economy of the United States and a plethora of other countries. Countries, such as Britain, United States, France, and China are feeling the effects of the Arab Spring because they depend on the Arab region’s resources. What makes the Middle East area so important is the oil found there. The Middle East holds nearly 70 percent of the world’s oil reserves and accounts for most of the exports of the oil that many countries round the world depend on (Nehad Ismail). Prior to the discovery of oil, the region had been just an area known for its religious conflict and wars over land ownership. After oil was discovered, industrialized countries competed for business and trade with the Middle East countries; however, the flow of trade has become interrupted by the Arab Spring. As the Arab Spring spread from Tunisia to other countries in the Middle East, the revolution had a direct affect on the world economy as a whole via the prices of oils and goods exported out of the region.

The Arab Spring has steadily jacked up the prices for oil exported; therefore, causing a rise in gasoline prices in the countries that use oil. In light of the rise in oil prices, a slowdown in world economic growth has happened and will continue to occur. This will have a negative impact on the world economy because the demand for oil will create some friction between countries that buy oil and those that sell the oil. This will also lead oil dependent countries to develop other means of creating energy that would furthermore hurt the Arab economy.

Currently, countries in Europe are suffering from financial crisis. “This crisis had already had its impact on the Arab world starting in 2009, and this was especially clear in the decrease of revenues specifically oil revenues in oil-exporting Arab countries”, said Rebei in an interview (Al Aribiya). The economic future of the Arab World will be extremely difficult to recover from. To make matters worse, more social disorder will occur as more citizens fall below the absolute poverty line. Howard Pack said, “At this point, in a revolutionary environment, it is very hard to get back into the game. (Michael Schuman). New leaders in each country will need to make changes in how they govern their citizens and in how they run their economy. Unless it can nurture entrepreneurs and create jobs, the popular movement that toppled the dictators will not make a difference in real lives (Michael Schuman). So what suggestions have been made on how to run a proper government? The first thought that came to mind was democracy. For the most part, this is what most of Arab Spring goals have centered around. Many Middle Easterners have been debating on how to limit the power of their leaders (Rashid Khalidi).

The problem for the youth in the Arab World is that they have never exercised democracy in any true organizational sense before now. Except for a few activist, the rest of the revolution’s youth have no idea how to organize them or how to draft a political program. This makes them easy prey for experienced politicians, whether they are pro-regime or opposition (Rashid Khalidi). The next proposed is the “Turkish Model”. Today, Turkey does provide a model of how to reconcile a powerful military establishment with democracy and a secular system with a religious orientation among much of the populace (Rashid Khalidi).

It is well organized as well. Turkey’s political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Its current constitution was adopted on November 7, 1982 after the Turkish constitutional referendum (Rashid Khalidi). These talks of forming a completely new government are just discussions for now and will not come into fruition for many years to come.