After the Arab Spring: Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria

The Arab Spring was a wave of pro-democracy uprisings that swept across the Middle East and North Africa beginning in late 2010, fueled by widespread frustration with authoritarianism, corruption and economic hardship. It began unassumingly on December 17, 2010 in Tunisia, when a fruit vendor set himself on fire in protest. This act captured the nation’s deep-seated anger, and by January 2011 the Tunisian government was overthrown. The uprising resonated across the region, as citizens of other Middle Eastern countries found both parallels in their own grievances and inspiration in Tunisia’s example. In Syria, the regime responded swiftly with violent repression to maintain its grip on power. In Egypt and Libya, long-standing rulers were toppled. Egypt saw a brief experiment with democracy before reverting to military rule. Libya teetered on the edge of democratic transition but descended into a failed state and civil war. Tunisia, where it all began, sustained democratic aspirations the longest—only to return in recent years to authoritarian, one-man rule.

The central question remains: why did this widespread impulse for democracy falter, and what prospects remain for a more hopeful outcome? Each session will explore this question through the lens of one of the four cases—Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria—examining the unique paths each country has taken and the broader lessons they offer.

Richard Lobban, Ph.D., professor emeritus of anthropology and African studies at Rhode Island College, serves as adjunct professor of African studies at the Naval War College. He has a master’s degree from Temple University and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and has taught at the American University in Cairo, Tufts University and Dartmouth College, among others. He has conducted field research in Tunis and Egypt and has been excavating a temple in Sudan for 10 years. Richard is widely published in urban and complex societies, informal sector economy, gender, ethnicity, race and class, especially in the Middle East. He often serves as a subject matter expert and court-appointed expert witness in political asylum cases for refugees from Africa and the Middle East.