Question

The Arab Spring was a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests(both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010 and spread throughout the countries of the Arab League and surroundings. The Arab Spring did not produce major advances towards democracy, but it did play a role in regional destabilization. Discuss the validity of this statement with a focus on three countries in the region.

Answer 1

The statement is correct.

Let us see with focus on three countries- Egypt, Syria and Libya. In all 3 countries there were massive protests, leading to civil war and in Egypt and Libya's case- toppling of the government. But what were the end result, lets check one by one.

Egypt- The Egyptial revolution started in January 2011 and the then leader Hosni Mubarak, resigned in Feb 2011. The constitution was suspended and after 6 months Islamists came to power after winning elections. They tried to make a Islamic leaning constitution, leading to further riots. Then they were again disbanded and military leader El sisi took place and he is now the leader.
Egypt did move to democracy but it rather lurched. First it resulted in an Islamist taking power and now an increasingly autocratic leader.

Libya- Libya was plunged in a Civil war in Feb 2011. The civil war saw the involvement of NATO and fighting continued till September 2011. In October the then leader Gaddafi was killed. Post that, the militias fighting against Gaddafi couldnt agree to power sharing and many refused to give up arms. This led to second civil war in Libya in 2014.

Syria- Syrian civil war began in March 2011 against the government of Assad and is still going on. The militias, supported by US, won some initial victories. They were then infiltrated by terrorists who later started a third faction in the war (ISIS). The Syrian government was then backed by Russia and won most of the area. At the end of war Turkey also got involved. And at the same time Kurdish fighters were fighting everyone else. It is clear to see that this has resulted in deep quagmire.

So we can see that the arab spring didnt really result in the kind of democratic results in these countries that were hoped for.