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dictatorial regimes and personalities inside and outside the state, and to reclaim democracy where they feel it is at risk of disintegration.
Beginning in December 2010 and continuing throughout 2011, citizens of one North African and various Middle Eastern countries—Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Egypt—assembled in the streets to stage prodemocracy demonstrations. These protests were fuelled by a burning desire for democratic freedoms that had been denied citizens by authoritarian regimes; they were aided by a virtual civil society vis-à-vis online social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In what became known as Arab Spring (the Arabic revolutions or Arabic rebellions), the Middle East witnessed intense civil resistance, including strikes, marches, rallies, and demonstrations. In Tunisia, where the Arab Spring had its genesis, the protests were vicious but ultimately led to the overthrow of the Tunisian president. In largely organized and peaceful protests (though attempts by government forces to suppress them caused some violence), Egyptians in 2010 used online Web sites and social networking tools to strategically organize workers, students, and ordinary Egyptians to attend rallies and demonstrations and to articulate their demands for greater freedoms, political rights, and an end to the 30-year reign of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. As a result of sustained resistance lasting several weeks, the protests succeeded. President Mubarak stood down, making way for democratic reform (“Egyptian Protests Intensify,” 2011).
Although peaceful protests formed the principal basis of the Egyptian struggles, it was violent tactics that marked this genuine and welcomed civil movement. Many of the demonstrations during Arab Spring were met with violent resistance from government forces intent on suppressing dissent. In Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, the protests were ferocious as pro-Gaddafi and government forces exchanged gunfire with rebels who were opposed to Gaddafi’s rulership. In Syria, protestors showed their anger with bombings and gunfire as they resisted the government’s attempt to repress their protest. In 2009, violent protests engulfed Iran’s capital, Tehran, as university students and supporters of the main opposition party protested what they believed were fraudulent elections