Vincent durac, university college dublin abstract yemen s revolt of 2011, like its counterparts in tunisia and egypt, raises many questions about recent analysis of authoritarianism in the arab world. Up until then, yemen s power had been spread through a delicate web of tribal alliances, gatekeepers to patronage and access to weaponry. These movements collectively came to be dubbed the arab spring, the arab revolution or the arab awakening souza and lipietz 2011. This thesis explores several dimensions of domestic and international politics related to the arab spring. Yemen, libya, and tunisia after the arab spring a comparative research study aiming to understand postrevolution transitions to peace and reconciliation dr. A wave of lively protests to overthrow the regime began in tunisia on december 17, 2010. Yemen, libya, and tunisia after the arab spring a comparative research study aiming to understand postrevolution transitions. Keywords united nations, human rights, military intervention, peace restoration, arab countries, democracy. Yemen is unique largely because the internationally perceived leader of this revolution, nobel laureate tawakkul karman, is a woman. Yemen s contentious transitional justice and fragile peace.
The role of social media in the arab spring, a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests in the middle east and north africa between 2010 and 2012, remains a highly debated subject. Following the arab spring protests in the middle east and north africa that spread in 2011, the completion of new constitutions became a hallmark of the political transitions in those countries egypt, tunisia, libya and yemen where authoritarian leaders were toppled. Since february 2011, the huthi movement has played an important though largely overlooked role in yemen s political transition. Much of the available literature on the arab spring is concerned with the future prospects of the arab spring and the extent to which it is likely to spread or be sustained. Aiding the internally displaced people and refugees in yemen. Yemen has the fourth lowest human development index ratings in the arab world after sudan, djibouti and mauritania. Arab spring reached yemen in early 2011, salih found that he had alienated too many former allies. Yemen this guide lists online and print sources for what has become known as the arab spring, the popular revolutionary wave in the middle east and north africa that started in december 2010. Even before the wave of arab uprisings reached yemen in early 2011, the country faced the convergence of multipleand mutually reinforcingpressures. Mass protests erupted in january 2011 when president ali abdullah saleh tried to change the constitution so he could stay in power for life. How has military intervention in libya shaped the arab spring. Yemen s war unfolded over several years, beginning with the arab spring in 2011. It will be some time before the dust settles and the new political shape of the region is known.
But, beyond that, the delegates to the most representative. Yemen arab spring unity torn asunder by hunger and war. The arab spring in the republic of yemen arab spring is an act that is considered a form of rebellion against government regimes in various countries in north africa and the middle east. In egypt, libya, tunisia, and the republic of yemen, the. In parallel to the arab spring, in 2012, the us and the european union imposed the most comprehensive international sanctions programme yet seen against iran. The report of the assessment mission to yemen pdf was made public and presented to the human rights council. The extent to which the asabiya underpinning salehs rule had eroded became quite visible. Jan 07, 2019 arab spring took a wrong turn, so to speak. What we saw here in the us, where people in the economically hardest hit states, such as, wisconsin were going through the worst attacks on the rights of public employees and working people, is that what. The youth movement in yemen, as all over the arab spring, does not figure in ibn khalduns fourteenthcentury scriptnor for that matter do facebook, aljazeera, or wikileaksbut what followed for yemen does. The youth bulge and arab unemployment the arab world has been facing a demographic trap for nearly three decades. First, the study shows that it is possible to formulate a more detailed and accurate explanation of the civil wars through the usage of the three theories causal mechanisms.
Yemen became one of the first countries to experience the protests. Nov 09, 2020 yemen arabic materials this pdf document is a list of the arabic materials that are available at the university of illinois in regards to yemens role in the arab spring. Houthis, ali abdullah saleh, arab spring, iran, national dialogue conference. In yemen, where the first protests appeared in late january 2011, pres. The military offensive that saudi arabia launched on 25 march 2015, with nine regional allies, against houthi rebels in yemen resulted from various political, military, and security developments that took place following the arab spring, which began in tunisia in december 2010. The popular political movement in the arab world, the socalled arab spring, which started in the. Iran 49 naysan rafati united states 53 nicholas kitchen israel 59 yaniv voller conclusion. The arab spring of discontent einternational relations. For over a year, more than 500 delegates labored to produce proposals to resolve persistent regional divisions within yemen and the grievances of the zaydi majority population of the northwestern highlands. Pdf yemen, the poorest and most populous country on the arabian peninsula, has long been a prime candidate to join the failed state club. Yemen arab spring libguides at university of illinois at.
From 2019 to 2020, protesters filled streets and deposed leaders in algeria, sudan, iraq, lebanon, and, multiple times, tunisia. Yemen, which have so far resisted revolution, the power of the state has been constrained adibmoghaddam cited in hayes 2011. Postconflict development postconflict reconstruction. Feb 11, 2021 that helped lead to what some scholars called arab spring 2. Post arab spring transition the arab spring revolutions did not so much light a match in yemen as add fuel to a simmering situation. South yemen, which reunited with north yemen in 1990. The regional revolution saw regime change in tunisia, egypt, and yemen, and civil wars in libya and, at the time of writing this, ongoing in syria. The arab winter is a term for the resurgence of authoritarianism and islamic extremism evolving in the aftermath of the arab spring protests in arab countries. The significance of gender in arab spring transitional justice.
Some capacitybuilding initiatives were delayed, such as bordersecurity training and the resettlement of refugees. The result of unification is the most populous country on the arabian peninsula, and the poorest. Executions in idlib governorate execution of fighters in first defense line, march 11, 2012 mass executions at the bilal mosque, march 11, 2012 executions of four residents in ayn larouz village, midmarch 2012 execution of two. An extraordinary wave of popular protest swept the arab world in 2011. Causes of the arab spring causes of the arab spring may be described as following. Whatever the eventual shape and orientation of regimes in egypt, libya, tunisia, yemen and syria, they will doubtless be more independent, less. Yemen s revolt of 2011, like its counterparts in tunisia and egypt, raises many questions about recent analysis of authoritarianism in the arab world. More than 2,000 people died in the uprising before saleh in 2012 yielded to pressure from the united states and gulf arab states to step down. Yemens transition process the web site cannot be found. Yemens huthi movement in the wake of the arab spring. His images of new world cannibals, which were created in large part to justify the. The arab spring is likely to leave the region more complicated. In the flood of newspaper articles, media documentaries, online blogs, youtube postings, and scholarly articles that followed the rebellions and worldwide protests in 20112012, there is however a remarkable feature of the protests that has remained mostly unrecognized, untheorized, and certainly not analyzed comparatively.
Uprisings occurred in states regardless of their levels of internet usage, with some states with high levels of internet usage such as bahrain, with 88% of its population online in 2011 experiencing. Pdf yemens revolt of 2011, like its counterparts in tunisia and egypt, raises many questions about recent analysis of authoritarianism in the. Economic reforms without political reforms are by nature shallower than economic reforms that are accompanied by democratization. Its uprising also became one of the most consequential. Other governments in the arab world were not seriously challenged by popular uprisings at that time and stayed in power. As other post arab spring transitions have faltered, yemen has so far defied expectations, moving from the brink of. Yemen arab spring libguides at university of illinois at urbana. The arab spring has fundamentally altered the middle east and north africa mena. Some state structures are already under threat, notably syria, libya, and yemen but also potentially iraq and lebanon. The iranian green movement 26 the silence of fear shattered by the voice of protests in iran. This pdf document is a list of the arabic materials that are available at the university of illinois in regards to yemens role in the arab spring.
The yemeni revolution, also known as the yemeni revolution of dignity followed the initial stages of the tunisian revolution and occurred simultaneously with the egyptian revolution of 2011 and other arab spring protests in the middle east and north africa. During the arab spring the number of users of social networks, especially facebook, rose dramatically in most arab countries, particularly in those where political uprising took place, with the exception of libya, which at the time had low internet access preventing people from doing so. As in other countries, the arab spring in yemen is a direct corollary of the growing economic and political crisis, with events in tunisia and egypt serving as a source of inspiration and catalysis. Slow economic development, rising discontent in the south against northern. Yemen s arab spring democratic opening or regime maintenance. The case of post arab spring yemen daniel martin varisco four and a quarter centuries after these words were written, i cannot but wonder what montaigne would conclude in writing a new essay entitled on drones. In many ways the outcome of the arab spring is still in flux three years on. We also need to reclaim the extraordinary nature of the arab spring that has been sadly lost, to an extent, by the intervention in libya. The religious institutions are the problem and the solution at the same time. Mass protests in yemen started in january 2011, following similar events in the arab world. In february 2011, yemenis inspired by mass protests in tunisia and egypt began taking to the streets to demand the resignation of. The popular political movement in the arab world, the socalled arab spring, which started in the spring of 2011 comes across not so much a mere as. On december, 2018, parties to the conflict in yemen came together in stockholm, sweden, and agreed to a series of undertakings that raised hopes for a peaceful settlement of the conflict that began in 2015 and has resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and allegations that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and human rights abuses were committed by all sides. Arab spring used their powers vehemently to crush the demonstrators and consequently the peaceful protesters also became violent.
In the flood of newspaper articles, media documentaries, online blogs, youtube postings, and scholarly articles that followed the rebellions and worldwide protests in 20112012, there is however a remarkable feature of the protests that has remained mostly unrecognized, untheorized, and certainly not analyzed comparatively this was the salient. Bashar alassads government brutally suppressed mass protests which began on 15 march 2011. Since protests began in yemen, the huthi positions have aligned with those of the revolutionary continued. The northern part of yemen is nearly 100 percent muslim, including both sunni and shiite residents. The term arab winter refers to the events across arab league countries in the mideast and north africa, including the syrian civil war, the iraqi insurgency and the following civil war, the egyptian crisis, the libyan crisis and the.
Rape and the arab spring center for american progress. Map middle east and asia project on transitional justice. Yemens arab spring lse research online london school of. Shortly after the protests broke out in tunisia and then egypt in early 2011, protestors took to yemeni streets in large numbers in urban areas across the country. A proper application of the arab springthe republic of yemen. There followed months of political turmoil in which government forces killed hundreds of protesters. Dec 11, 2018 the arab spring and the widespread protests that wracked the struggling country empowered the disenfranchised youth, who had previously felt so removed from political power, to demand justice and equity. The longstanding regime of ali abdullah alsalih and. Pdf yemen, arab spring and an endless civil war reza. Instead, that spring has given way to a winter of economic stagnation and political violence that has plunged syria, libya and yemen into bloody civil war, has led to widespread unrest in egypt, iraq and bahrain, and threatens to destabilize arab governments from morocco to saudi arabia. Libya, syria, and yemen in the context of the arab spring s revolutions. Youth frustration and the arab spring 5 spring will require the participation of youth, as well as policies and programs that address the concerns of youth in both the short and longterm. Jan 29, 2018 six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring.
The arab uprisings and international relations theory. The common slogan of the protesters throughout arab spring was the people want to bring down the regime aissa, 2012. Yemens arab spring 2011 yemeni revolution starts in 2011. It is remarkably difficult to accurately explain the course of events in egypt, yemen, or libya without reference to saudi arabia, the united arab.
Massive popular mobilization brought down longruling leaders in tunisia and egypt, helped spark bloody struggles in bahrain, libya, syria, and yemen, and fundamentally reshaped the nature of poli tics in the region. Unfinished revolutions yemen libya and tunisia after the. The group has responded to the arab spring and in particular to the slow, negotiated toppling of ali abdullah salih in yemen. The yemeni youth revolution, which began in january 2011, provided the perfect setting to depose salih.
The yemeni spring and islamic organizations asked about the potential for women s greater participation in yemen, a male yemeni interviewee stated. On the other hand, the south gained its independence in 1967 after its anti. He was the fourth autocrat to be toppled in the arab spring unrest that first began in tunisia. A proper application of the arab springthe republic of. Literature on revolution typically highlights the doubleedged consequences of overthrowing established tyrannies. The arab spring, with its associated political and social upheaval, is a noteworthy. Sexual violence as a political tool during the arab spring. In 2011 a wave of prodemocracy protests known as the arab spring spread across the arab world. Syria, and yemen, and ordered departure of noncritical personnel was issued in egypt.
Dissatisfaction with government services in arab spring. The evolving ruling barga in in the middle ea st london. The arab popular uprising from a gender perspective. Arab spring, wave of prodemocracy protests and uprisings that took place in the. Arab spring uprising against president salehs government in 2011. Yemen remains the only site of an arab spring uprising that has ended in a negotiated agreement and a structured, internationally supported transi tion process. Pdf yemens arab spring democratic opening or regime. Prodemocracy protesters took to the streets in a bid to force president ali abed allah saleh to end his 33year rule. In its early phase, protests in yemen were initially against unemployment, economic conditions and corruption, as well as against the. Yar since 1978 and continued to be the president of yemen after the unification until he was forced to step down in 2011 after the arab spring uprising in yemen. Yemen arab spring libguides at university of illinois.
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