Arab Spring Grass Roots Democratic Movements

Background The modern Arab world is not that old Created from dissolution of Ottoman Empire British, French controlled the region and played a heavy hand in this dissolution  French Mandated Syria and British Mandated Palestine Large influence in the 1960s was the Ba`athist Party Set up as an ideological movement of the 1940s Is based on nationalist, autocratic principles Strong leadership Promotion of Arab culture Sunni vs Shia The middle East is divided religiously Sunni 80-90% of Muslims Believe that spiritual conviction determines leadership – aka Pope Believe in the Quran /religious texts as a guide to living – not literal Shi`a 5 – 20% of Muslims Believe that only the direct descendants of Muhammad should be leaders Iran, Bahrain, Iraq Believe in the word of the Quran /religious texts as literal meaning Islamic Fundamentalism Is a 'BACK TO BASICS` movement to counter the influence of non Arabic / Islamic forces - westernisation

Syria Broke from the Ottomans in 1920 – under the rule of King Faisal (also king of Iraq) Was driven from power by the French 1925 – 1936 rebellion against France Full independence wasn`t given until 1944  Last French troops leave the Ba`ath Party seizes power Hafez al-Assad ( ) Bashar al-Assad (son) ( Present)

Algeria Taken from the Ottoman`s in 1830 After World War Two Algerian Independence movements start to grow – the leader Front du Liberation Nationale – FLN 1954 – 1963 – Algerian rebellion France agrees to pull out – 10% of Algeria flee to France as refugees FLN takes power Coup in – defence minister Government shifted to a more central – socialist government 1991 – Islamic Salvation Front won election – military declared state of emergency 1991 – 2002 – religious based civil war 2002 – Present political protests

Libya Seized from Ottoman`s in 1911 by the Italians 1952 – Libya declares independence and sets up a monarchy 1969 – monarchy is overthrown by a 27 year old military officer 1969 – Muammar Gaddafi Assassinated Libyan dissidents Publically executed political prisoners Used oil revenues to fund terrorism – Palestinians, Irish, Chad, anti nuclear activists, etc He modernised the country (Libya had one of the highest standards of living in the Arab world); but at a price for freedom

Egypt 1882 – British Seize the area and set up as imperialists 1952 – Egyptians declare independence and expel the British – Suez Canal still controlled by British and French business interests 1954 – Military general – Gamal Nasser seizes power 1957 – attempts to seize control of the Suez Canal – British and French threaten to invade Canadians step in as `peacekeepers` PM Pearson wins Nobel 1970 – Nasser dies and is succeeded by another general – Anwar Sadat 1982 – Sadat is assassinated by soldiers for softening Egypts stance towards Israel 1982 – 2011 – General Hosni Mubarek succeeds Sadat Mubarek remains neutral towards Israel and tries to develop relations with the West. Supresses political and religious dissidents

Iraq Taken from the Ottoman`s by the British in 1916 Set up as imperialist state Invaded in 1941 to prevent region from crossing over to the Axis Declares independence in 1947 under a constitutional monarchy – overthrown in 1958 Ba`athist Party seizes power – by 1979 it is led by Saddam Hussein Kills all rivals (real and imagined) Establishes a `cult of Personality` Develops strong relations with the US after the Iranian Revolution Iraq – Iran War ( ) – stalemate = 1.5 mil dead 1990 – invades Kuwait to seize oil reserves – defeated by US led coalition UN imposes economic sanctions 2003 – US leads coalition to topple Hussein 2006 – Hussein put on trial and executed 2003 – 2010 US Occupies Iraq

Iran The region was independent - Ruled by a monarchy 1925 – king was overthrown and the new ruler (the Shah) developed ties to the west to fund modernisation programs – ties to Nazi Germany prompted the British and Soviets to invade – set up a new Shah 1951 – The Iranian government nationalised the oil industry – US sponsored a coup to oust them The Shah took the hint and developed more autocratic policies 1979 – religious dissident Ayatollah Komenini led a revolution against the Shah and drove him out of power Set up a theocracy – religious leadership Set up restrictive laws for women Current leadership Religious - Ali Khamenei Political - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Arab Spring Started in Dec. 2010, when Mohamed Bouazizi (a Tunisian street vendor) set himself on fire in protest of the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation that he reported was inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides. This sparked a wave of protest that grew as a challenge of the government By Jan. 2011, the government was forced from office. Protests spread throughout the Arab world

Summary of Protest by Country CountryDate startedStatus of protestsDeath toll Tunisia December 2010 Government overthrown on 14 January Algeria December 2010Ended in January [61] Jordan January 2011Ongoing.4 [64][65] [64][65] Mauritania January 2011Ongoing3 [66] [66] Sudan January 2011Ended in March [68] [68] Oman January 2011Ended in May 20112–6 [74][75][76] [74][75][76] Saudi Arabia January 2011Ongoing 10 [82][83][84][8 5][86] [82][83][84][8 5][86] Egypt January 2011 Government overthrown on 11 February Ongoing 841 [95] [95] YemenJanuary 2011 Government overthrown on 27 February ongoing 2,000 [98] [98]