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Exploring and Analysing the Repercussions of the Arab Spring in Egypt

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Exploring and Analysing the Repercussions of the Arab Spring in Egypt Journal of Management (JOM) Volume 5, Issue 4, July – August 2018, pp. 229–243, Article ID: JOM_05_04_024 Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/JOM/issues.asp?JType=JOM&VType=5&IType=4 ISSN Print: 2347-3940 and ISSN Online: 2347-3959 © IAEME Publication EXPLORING AND ANALYSING THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THE ARAB SPRING IN EGYPT Abhiraj Goswami Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India Rasmika Ghosh Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India ABSTRACT A term invented by American news journal Foreign Policy, the ‘Arab Spring’ is used to refer to the wave of political uprisings that had started in Tunisia in 2010 and has since swept across the Arab World posing a strong resistance towards the existing authoritarian and kleptocratic regimes. The levels of success of the upheavals differ from place to place. The Egyptian equivalent, also known as the Egyptian Revolution was triggered by the death of Khaled Saeed and further endorsed by social media campaigning led by Wael Ghoneim. As an immediate result of the protests in Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak, who was in office since 1981, was deposed in 2011, thereby ending the 31-year-old State of Emergency leading to suspension of the Constitution, parliamentary dissolution and subsequent democratic elections. This paper seeks to explore and analyse the directions taken by Egypt during this so-called post-Arab Spring reconstruction period dotted with perpetual mass insurgency. Contrary to the anticipation of democracy and civil freedoms as a result of Mubarak’s resignation, Egypt has been caught up in further economic ebbs and repressive measures. Being the largest Arab state and Israel’s neighbour and Camp David partner, Egypt is pivotal for the region’s future. The overthrow of Mohammed Morsi and the subsequent electoral victory of Abdel Fatah el-Sisi after the constitutional referendum in 2014 proved to be a turning point for the Sinai insurgencies and ultimately in the question of regional stability and liberalization, something largely unheard of since the Suez Crisis. Through analysis of present state of affairs in Egypt, this paper seeks to establish a progress report of the Arab Spring in the region and infer as to what the future looks like for the hundreds and thousands that had valiantly occupied Tahrir Square to voice a collective opinion in favour of democracy. Key words: Authoritarianism, development, Egypt, human rights, political stability. Cite this Article: Abhiraj Goswami and Rasmika Ghosh, Exploring and Analysing the Repercussions of the Arab Spring in Egypt, Journal of Management, 5(4), 2018, pp. 229–243. http://www.iaeme.com/JOM/issues.asp?JType=JOM&VType=5&IType=4 http://www.iaeme.com/JOM/index.asp 229 [email protected] Exploring and Analysing the Repercussions of the Arab Spring in Egypt 1. INTRODUCTION On the morning of 17th December, 2010, Tunisia would witness the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi, a local fruit seller in SidiBouzid who had to bribe the local authorities to keep his business afloat as he did not possess a vendor’s permit. Bouzaizi’s public suicide sent a wave of protests across Tunisia right away, from his hometown (SidiBouzid) to Kasserine, Thala, MenzelBouzaiene. By the time Bouazizi had passed away on 4th January, 2011, the revolution had spread all across Tunisia and had changed drastically in character, from personal to political. Little did Bouazizi, or Ben Ali for that matter, know that this would go on to topple not only the latter’s 23-year dictatorship but also the political landscape of the Arab World, even if for a brief moment in history. Ever since, Bouazizi has achieved the status of a hero and a martyr, for having given a rude-awakening to all Tunisians about their rights, or the lack of it. In the due course of time, the Tunisian Revolution will have set off similar civil disobediences and protests in various countries including Jordan, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen etc. However, as predicted by former European Commission President, Romano Prodi, Egypt was the next hotbed of political protests. Prodi had stated only two days after the resignation of Ben Ali that Egypt ought to be monitored as it was vulnerable to an uprising similar in nature to Tunisia. Egypt had witnessed its fair share of political violence and police brutality. In fact, if one could say that Bouazizi’s face was the force behind the Tunisian Revolution, the Egyptian equivalent would be a 28 year old computer enthusiast called Khaled Mohamed Saaed. It was the aftermath of KhaledSaeed’s death that gave the Arab Spring its noteworthy feature: a revolution coordinated on the social media. It went on to show that the internet can be a source of salvation and a tool for community building in brutal and oppressive regimes, like that of Hosni Mubarak. The news of Bouazizi and Ben Ali’s resignation spread rapidly and due to a number of Bouazizi-style immolations in Egypt. To add to that, there was WaelGhonim, the creator of the Facebook page called ‘We are all Khaled Said’, thereby ensuring that the rage of the Egyptian populace was in its right place. The Egyptian Revolution began on 25th January, 2011, and ironically but not coincidentally on the Egyptian “Police Day”, to protest against the lack of human rights and perpetually degrading socio- economic conditions. After nearly two and a half weeks of intense protests and subsequent government crackdowns, Mubarak stepped down from power, handing over the proceedings to the Supreme Council of Armed Forces. It is important to note that a movement like the Arab Spring had not taken place in vacuum but as a result of a number of repressive measures which were undertaken time and time again by the various regimes establishing power in the Arab world. The outcome of the Arab Spring varied from country to country. However, on a broad basis, it can be classified into three primary outcomes. The first heading would include countries that had new governments after the previous ones were removed from, or had stepped down from power, like that of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. The second heading would include countries whose leaders did not want to experience a similar fate and thus gave into the demands of the protesting populace. Oman, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Bahrain would fall under this list. The third and final heading would include countries which have collapsed into a state of conflict, leading up to a massive civil war ongoing even today, namely Yemen and Syria. However, irrespective of all the outcomes that have been mentioned, the fate of Egypt is of primary importance, owing to its history and strategic significance. Pivotal to the Arab region and serving as a bridge between the Arab and the Western world ever since the Camp David Accords, the path taken by Egypt will determine a lot in terms of the political landscape of the region, and the future for the people of the Arab world. http://www.iaeme.com/JOM/index.asp 230 [email protected] Abhiraj Goswami and Rasmika Ghosh 2. IMPORTANCE OF EGYPT Egypt is the largest country is the Arab world and the most populous one, with a population of more than 96 million. This goes on to say that any form of social, religious and political movement in Egypt, will eventually go on to influence the rest of the Arab world, and the immediate region of which it is a part. Thus, as a result, Egypt is responsible for having modernised the Arab world. It was also the very first state in the region to implement the idea of pan-Arabism. Arab unity was a key feature of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s foreign policy and it was under his regime that the United Arab Republic was established, after what was considered to be an Egyptian victory in the Suez Crisis. Egypt was also a founding member of every organisation that would turn out to be an arena of extensive diplomacy, namely: The United Nations, The Non-Aligned Movement, The Arab League, The African Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Egyptian economy is the second largest on the continent of Africa, after South Africa was pushed to the third spot in 2016. The 2012 to 2015 period saw a massive decline in the South African economy, but at the same time also witnessed how Egypt was able to keep its currency afloat, and even expand the US Dollar-GDP by 7.5%. Egypt is the largest non- OPEC oil producer and the second largest dry-natural gas producer in Africa (the first being Algeria). It is also a transit point of oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf to Europe and North America. Egypt also possesses the largest oil refining capacity in Africa, although the performance in this sector has been sub-par. Egypt also plays an integral role in the global energy market as it has the SUMED (Suez-Mediterranean) Pipeline under its operational control, along-with UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and a number of Kuwaiti enterprises. Egypt controls 50% of the shares off this pipeline. In 2016, Egypt had also planned to build its very own nuclear power plant, taking the help of Russian capital. Owing to its diplomatic history and geographical location, Egypt is also a key-player in the Middle Eastern peace dialogue. It is the only country to have diplomatic relations with the state of Israel, an immediate neighbour and a country whose existence is resented by the Arab world. After the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978, Egypt went on to be the first Arab state to internationally recognize Israel, a move which was much resented at the time by the rest of the Arab world.
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