Unfinished Revolution: The Arab Spring at the Crossroads

Abstract

Currently, the Arab world is going through a critical phase of its collective existence as the entire region is under the grip of a revolutionary fervour.  The consequences have both political and economic ramifications. Hitherto, totalitarian and dictatorial regimes in the region had not only tightly controlled the levers of power through political threats and manipulations but had also exploited whatever economic benefits which were available therein. This was accentuated by poor economic performance, unemployment, corruption and inequality that acted as catalysts for a general revolt. This gave birth to what is presently dubbed “Arad Spring’’. Within months of the self immolation of Mohammed Buazizi, Tunisian President, Zine Al-Abidin Ben Ali who had ruled the country for 23years, fled the country. Also in Egypt, the wave of protests swept off President Hosni Mubarak after 29years in office. Despise the regime change in both countries; the political institutions that supported the old order were left intact. As such, the benefactors of the spring were not the masses but the members of the elites that were either supportive of the toppled regimes or their antagonists who used it to secure the much needed elusive political powers. This study is a survey of the countries where the authoritarian regimes have been replaced as a result of the Arab revolts, specifically; Egypt and Tunisia are the case studies. The emphasis is on how unmet expectations and unrealized goals have tended to derail the realization of the initial dreams of the citizenry in these countries.