Author: Michele Dunne
Affiliation: Carnegie Endowment
Organization/Publisher: Carnegie Endowment
Date/Place: January 2020, Washington
Type of Literature: Research Article
Number of Pages: 12
Link: https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/01/15/fear-and-learning-in-arab-uprisings-pub-80811
Keywords: Middle East, North Africa, Arab Awakening, Political Reform, Democracy
Brief:
Michele Dunne proposes a perspective for understanding the Arab awakening and uprisings in the last year, which witnessed many protests and popular uprisings in many Arab states including Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq and partly Egypt. She responds to the question of “why public protests in Arab world are still breaking out every few years in contradiction with predictions?” Dunne argues that there are two aspects: First, protestors are going out against authoritarianism despite the risks of violence and torture, indicating the misery and recklessness of their situations; Second, protests show that people are “learning” from neighboring experiences as well as from their own histories. In other words, the article refers to “learning to overcome fear” as the explanation of the Arab awakening especially the Algerian and Sudanese experiences. The article underlines some lessons to learn from these experiences, including: the critical significance of “massive, sustained and societal backed public pressure”; the “trapped transition plans”—especially elections proposals—drawn by the military; that protesters required caution of any external intervention or influence, especially from other Arab states “frenemies”; and going beyond fear or “learning to overcome fear” to achieve successes. It concludes that whether the protesters managed to achieve success or not, they created this “virtuous circle of learning” which may also affect others in the Arab world. Furthermore, it resulted in a realistic paradigm that anticipates a gradual change coming through stages. Turmoil in the region is expected, however evolving forms of democracy may emerge in Arab countries in a decade.
By: Yomna Süleyman, CIGA Research Assistant
