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Arab Spring As a Background of Civil War in Syria

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Arab Spring As a Background of Civil War in Syria International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION Vol. XXIV No 1 2018 ARAB SPRING AS A BACKGROUND OF CIVIL WAR IN SYRIA Marian ŻUBER, Samuel Sahel MOUSSA Military University of Land Forces, Wroclaw, Poland [email protected], [email protected] Abstract: In the paper the reasons of outbreak of conflict in Syria at the background of social and political situation of the Arab world at the beginning of 21st century were presented. The influence of displeasure explosion against governments in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, known as Arab Spring, on the situation in Syria was described. The attention on escalation of tensions between Bashar al-Assad’s government and opposition as a source of civil war in Syria was paid. The foreign players at the arena of Syrian conflict with special concern to United States and Russia activity, as a main contractors in the conflict were shown. Keywords: Arab Spring, Arab awakening, Middle East, civil war, democratisation 1. Introduction awareness in the face of the occurring The end of 2010, and the beginning of 2011 events [3]. The reaction of governments on known as the Arab Spring or Arab the protests had three forms: resign of awakening concerns the wave of country leaders after pressures of society or revolutions in the North Africa and in the army, social, political and economic Middle East region arranged with the reforms and using the violence in the mass purpose of overthrowing the most powerful, range (civil war). The ruling elites took long-lasting, and reactive violent regimes in various actions in the face of protests: from such countries as Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, concessions and reforms in the country to Libya, and Yemen [1]. The first exact apply repression and using violence against of the term “Arab Spring” was initiated by citizens. US political academic journal “Foreign In the paper, the authors analyse the Policy” [2]. implications for the social and political The events of the Arab Spring in Tunisia situation in Syria as a result of the events of had huge influence on the situation in other the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Libya and countries of North Africa and in the Middle Egypt. They focused on the development of East. Aftermath of uprisings in each nation the conflict in Syria under Bashar al-Assad proceeded in various ways and effects of to show the development of the conflict them were different. from revolt to civil war. The protests in the countries where civil resistance occurred had different effects but 2. The impact of the Arab Spring on the methods of protests were similar. Citizens situation in North Africa and Middle expressed their dissatisfaction through East region strikes, rallies, demonstrations and marches At the beginning of 2011 the revolt spread as much as the effective use of social media to other Arab countries. The strength of (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other) to social movements of the Arab Spring was organise, communicate and create so enormous that it could lead to major DOI: 10.1515/kbo-2018-0038 © 2015. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License. 245 changes in the Arab world, and even the against the confiscation of his cart, which overthrow of leaders who had been in allowed him to keep his family. The power for decades [4]: incident became the spark which caused • Tunisia - Zine el-Abidine Ben Alì, who changes in Arab countries alight in the near ruled from 1987, was forced to resign future. and leave the country. Protests began locally in this same day, in • Algeria and Morocco - social protests several places, but then spread across the have had less impact than protests in country. Their scale was so massive and other Arab countries, but they have led surprising that it forced President Zine El to democratic changes. Abidin Ben Ali, in office from 1987 to • Egypt - Hosni Mubarak, who ruled issue a warning on 28 December that from 1981, similarly to the leader of dissent would be severely punished [6]. The Tunisia, was forced to resign and leave protests were the first sign of successful the country. popular movement and official • Libya - the result of revolt was civil denunciation, a pattern that would soon war, in which NATO forces were become a familiar throughout the Arab world. engaged. The leader of Libya Muammar The response of the government was not Gaddafi - in power from 1969, was positive and the police killed and arrested captured and killed on 20 October 2011 many youths. This news disseminated during the Battle of Sirte, by National throughout Tunisia. Many unemployed Transitional Council (NTC) militants. young people and the majority of Tunisians • Syria - the result of the outbreak of citizens demonstrated in every place of the revolt in March 2011 was the country by opposing the government. The repression against citizens from the government of Tunisia brutally killed and regime of President Bashar al-Assad, arrested many Tunisians. This events who ruled from 2000, without changed the history of Tunisia and became proposing political and social changes turning points for the whole Arab states and in Syria. signal to the revolution. Finally the government made many promise to the • Yemen - president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled for 33 years, after ten people to make a reform but the people of months of revolt, on November 2, Tunisia did not return back to their home. At 2011, signed an agreement according to the conclusion the government of Tunisia which he handed over power to vice- fled from the country to Saudi Arabia [7]. president Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, After the escape of Ben Ali, his ministers obtaining immunity for himself and his were forced to resign because the society family. did not want the old discredited political elites caring only for their own interests. An • The riots spread during 2011 to many interim government was established which countries of the Middle East such as focused on preparing democratic elections. Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Iran, as After the elections situation in Tunisia had well as their consequences had stabilized. different dimensions. Figure1 presents events of Arab Spring at the timeline [5]. 2.1. Tunisia – the beginning of Arab awakening The genesis of Arab Spring began in Tunisia, on 17 December 2010, when Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old vendor from Sidi Bouzid, set himself the fire to protest 246 Figure 1. The events of Arab spring [4] 2.2. Libya – the death of dictator When the Libyan government escalated its First protests in Libya started on 13 January response with the use of force to regional 2011 but mass uprisings began in the city of riots in Benghazi and other Libyan cities, Benghazi on 15 February 2011. Public which caused the deaths of dozens of discontents in the all country were as an rioters, popular rebellion spread throughout result of rebellion in the north-east of the northern Libya. The conflict developed into country and in the Nafusa Mountains in the civil war. The Libyan conflict has evolved north-west, as well as smaller local protest from a peaceful protest to a bloody civil in Benghazi over the detention of a lawyer war. The main reasons for this scenario Fathi Terbil. Within some days the unrest were: the repressive regime of Gaddafi, the also spread to the Tripoli and other cities in division of Libya's territory between the the north-west. The actors of the uprising’s NTC and the supporters of the regime, the first days were unorganised young men supply of weapon to NTC and coalition acting spontaneously [8]. From Benghazi, rebel forces, the influence of the Arab the revolt spread quickly and Gaddafi League and NATO intervention. ordered troops loyal to him to quell the On 20 October 2011, war officially ended rebellion. The rebels set up the National with Gaddafi’s death and the NTC’s Transitional Council (on 27 February), declaration of victory [9]. claiming to be the legitimate government of In the Libyan uprising four distinct stages Libya. could be distinguished: peaceful protests, 247 rebellion, organized belligerency, and Libya and Egypt had also essential international intervention. influence on other countries of North Africa Due to the war in Libya, thousands of and the Middle East, by political, economic people lost their lives and hundreds of and social factors, and brought a serious thousands were forced to migrate to challenges on, for the security of the neighboring countries. Losses in the Middle East. One of these countries was economy have reached billions of dollars Syria. [10]. After the war, the process of creating The conflict in Syria began with protests on the new government and developing the January 26, 2011 and turned into a general new constitution began. uprising on March 15, 2011. It has become 2.3. Egypt – protests in the shadow of the bloodiest conflict in the Middle East as pyramids the consequence of the Arab Spring [14]. Revolution in Egypt, which started on 25 The scenario at the beginning of the conflict January 2011, was triggered soon after the was similar to other countries. The serious uprising in Tunisia. The protests, which pro-democracy protests against Syrian took place on Cairo's Tahrir Square, was regime erupted in Deraa, the city of the result of the tradition of protests in southern Syria, after the arrest and torture Egypt, which lasted over a decade, and of some teenagers who painted which included pro-democratic activity, revolutionary slogans on a wall on 6 March workers' movements and Internet 2011. The escalation of the conflict campaigns against the brutality of the followed after the security forces opened Mubarak regime [11].
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