Political and Socio-Economic Roots of Uprisings in the Arab World

Gaziza Kurpebayeva

doi:10.20896/saci.v8i1.786

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to determine the political and socio-economic roots of the Arab spring and define its consequences. The article demonstrates similar and distinct features of revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Particular attention is paid to the transformational consequences in this region. The study results show that the Arab Spring has not brought optimistic changes but worsened socio-economic problems. The Arab Spring uprisings have led to riots, civil wars, social militarisation, the revival of terrorist organisations that affected the economy. The phenomenon of the Arab spring has appeared because of mass discontents with the ruling regimes. This phenomenon is associated with a wave of protests in MENA that have led to a transformation of political, social, inter-regional, economic and financial systems of the region. Revolutions and civil wars have forced migrations to Europe. In turn, this has destabilised the European labour market and drawn the attention of governments to the growing Islamisation of the cultural sphere. The study is interdisciplinary and assesses change of political regimes in Arabic societies.

Highlights

Arab spring initially has been regarded as an expression of optimism and noble intentions to shift the region's political despotism, totalitarianism and autocracy to democracy and modernity, its aftermath has illuminated destructive civil wars
Various terms are used like Arab Spring, Arab revolution, Islamist Spring, Jasmine revolution and so on to describe the revolutions and uprisings that have begun in Tunisia, peaked in early 2011 and spread throughout the region undermining the political and socio-economic stability
Given its scale and expansion, the Arab revolution has left its mark as the tremendous Arab awakening characterised by numerous uprisings throughout the region

Summary

Introduction

Arab spring initially has been regarded as an expression of optimism and noble intentions to shift the region's political despotism, totalitarianism and autocracy to democracy and modernity, its aftermath has illuminated destructive civil wars. Extremist and radical regimes constitute acts of violence, and on the other hand, Arab states suffer from uprisings and insecurity (Vida & Cenit, 2017). These two factors subsequently have turned the region into a zone with high volatility and a hostile environment. The history of humankind reflects continuous changes in political, social and economic aspects of civil society. Each revolution is characterised by a change that affects the basic written or unwritten laws (Al-Shammari & Willoughby, 2019). Such revolutions affected the Middle East and North Africa region in December 2010

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