A decade after the Arab Spring, autocrats still rule the Mideast
17 Feb, 2021 04:00 AM
8 minutes to read
Demonstrators in Cairo in 2011 celebrated upon hearing that President Hosni Mubarak had been toppled after 18 days of protests against his government. Photo / Ed Ou, The New York Times
Demonstrators in Cairo in 2011 celebrated upon hearing that President Hosni Mubarak had been toppled after 18 days of protests against his government. Photo / Ed Ou, The New York Times
New York Times
By: Ben Hubbard and David D. Kirkpatrick
The popular uprisings of 2011 mostly failed, but they gave the region a taste for democracy that continues to whet an appetite for change.
Ben Hubbard and David D Kirkpatrick, The New York Times
Published: 15 Feb 2021 09:02 AM BdST
Updated: 15 Feb 2021 09:02 AM BdST A demonstration in Beirut, Oct 20, 2019, where huge protests failed to change Lebanon’s corrupt, sectarian political system. The New York Times A mural in Cairo’s Tahrir Square after Egypt’s revolution depicts ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his former ministers, June 25, 2012. The New York Times
A decade ago, crowds massed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand the ouster of Egypt’s American-backed strongman, President Hosni Mubarak. In Washington, President Barack Obama made a fateful decision, calling on him to leave power.
The hope for a new era of freedom and democracy that surged across the region has been largely crushed. The United States proved to be an unreliable ally. And other powers that intervened forcefully to stamp out the revolts and bend the region to their will Iran, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates have only grown more powerful.