Impact of Arab Spring on Egypt: An Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Arab spring emerged as a unique phenomenon: not only that it surprised the world’s policy makers, but it also started a debate in the academia about the reasons, motivations and dynamics of change and its explanations within the paradigms of existing theories of political change. This change was the result of political mobilization of certain new sectors of societies in Arab countries. The nature and direction of this change was no doubt different in different countries but it inspired the entire region as a domino effect. It left no option for all the authoritarian regimes in pre-dominantly Muslim Middle East but to opt for political reforms at least. Although the western powers welcomed Arab Spring at the beginning however this optimism eroded when the later developments proved that a democratic electoral process might produce governments, not entirely to the liking of the West. This paper examines; (a) the socio-political mobilization that proved to be the last blow to the Mubarak’s dictatorship and formation of President Muhammad Morsi’s elected government; (b) the post-2011 political dynamics in Egypt; (c) the implications of the rise of Islamists to power in Egypt for regional politics; and (d) the response of the western world towards Islamists power and 2011 mobilization.