Political Power Loss in Syria, Egypt, and Tunisia

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Table of Contents

Definition
Background
Loss of Political Power
Conclusion
References

Definition

The Arab Spring refers to all activities that take place in the Islamic nations involving protests, demonstrations, and the use of social media to influence the actions of other people. Most Arab nations, including Syria, Egypt, and Tunisia, have experienced public demonstrations that have transformed their leadership within the last few months. People have been dissatisfied by their leaders and governments and thus protested and demanded their removal from power (Collier 2010). However, the incumbents have not yielded to these demands while lying down, and this has led to violent confrontations between them and the insurgent groups. This essay explores how autocrats use bribery, intimidation, and restrictions to their disadvantage to retain power.

Background

The Arab spring has been motivated by the frustrations of citizens in the way their leaders have managed public affairs. Several reasons are responsible for an increase in revolutions in the Arab nations and those located in the northern part of Africa (Filiu 2011). Libya has witnessed the worst form of human rights abuse due to resistance by the late Muhammad Gaddafi to retain power through all means. People have been frustrated by the increase in the cost of living initiated by their regimes that have advanced their interests through monopolizing various means of production. Collier argues that there is a huge gap between the rich and poor, and this has created class differences, which have increased the tribulations of middle and low-income earners (Collier 2010). Unemployment has made them desperate and pushed them to demand that their governments must establish ways of creating jobs for them. Also, political parties in the opposition side have been gagged by the leading party, and this has forced them to win the public sympathy and helped them to advance their quests for democratic governance. The incumbents have used various ways to retain power; however, these options may have negative impacts on their missions and may make them lose power.

Loss of Political Power

Political power is addictive, and once an individual has gained this position, it becomes very difficult for the person to release it. The Arab Spring is an evident illustration of how leaders have used various tricks to ensure the insurgents do not force them out of power. However, the revolutionary groups have taken advantage of these options to ensure the incumbents are unable to retain power.

Bribery has been a common option used by incumbents in the Arab nations to retain their leadership positions. They have used money and political positions to influence leaders of insurgent groups to stop their demand for revolutions in leadership. It is important to understand that some people cannot compromise their stands when they are given money or positions that will give them fame and wealth (Haddad 2012). Most Arab nations get income from exporting oil, and anyone in charge of these operations gets rich easily due to the profits accrued from this business. Most of these operations are controlled by the government. Thus, an incumbent leader can offer leadership positions in these oil fields to leaders of insurgent groups as a way of bribing them to cease their quest for justice and democracy (Lynch 2012).

Also, they can use money and other favors to influence the opposition to stop their demonstrations. However, these schemes may work against the intentions of the incumbents since the insurgent groups can use the bribes to advance their quests (Willis 2012). Also, they can use the resources allocated to them to finance their operations, and this will ease their fight for democracy. Moreover, if the incumbent continues to bribe demonstrators and their leaders, they will soon have no funds to continue with this scheme. Moreover, the demonstrators will have more grounds to accuse the incumbents of malpractice and thus strengthen their case against them.

Secondly, the opposition and demonstrators have been intimidated in various ways to ensure they stop expressing their dissatisfaction through protests and demonstrations. Police brutality has been one way of intimidating protestors to instill fear in them (Lynch 2012). Most police officers have been caught on camera beating protestors and using excessive force to control demonstrators. The incumbents have used brutal means to arrest and torture various leaders spearheading protests and demonstrations. Even though most protestors have been intimidated by police brutality and stopped protesting, the majority of them have continued to fight for their rights.

The incumbent leaders have also used threats to intimidate opposition leaders into ceasing their grounds, but this has not been effective in ensuring their retain power (Filiu 2011). However, the international community and media keep an eye on all activities that take place in this region. This means that the world also watches what is happening ion these regions, and human rights groups must ensure these leaders do not violate human rights (Korany 2012). America and France have played significant roles in ensuring that the rights of demonstrators and protestors are not violated. In case this happens, the incumbents are put to task to explain why their regimes fail to respect human rights. This makes it easy for an incumbent to be thrown out of power as other nations support protestors in demanding that these nations respect human rights.

Some leaders, including Muhammad Gaddafi, restricted the formation and activities of insurgent groups that were aimed at removing them from power. They ensured that these groups were not allowed to demonstrate and thus reduce their chances of advancing their needs. Also, Libya banned the use of social forums like Facebook and Twitter to limit contacts among demonstrators. The media was also banned from broadcasting police brutality and confrontations with demonstrators (Lynch 2012). The media and diplomats were also restricted from participation in any public activity that was perceived to advance the needs of insurgents groups. However, this effort did not help the incumbents to retain power since people were not ready to stop their cries for justice, equality, and leadership that is responsible and accountable for their actions. Collier claims that protestors used these restrictions to show the world how their leaders are determined to advance their interests at the expense of the sufferings their people experienced (Collier 2010). This has made the incumbents lose their abilities to retain power since the world views them as dictators and irresponsible leaders.

Conclusion

The Arab Spring seems to attract the attention of the world due to its impacts on the international economy. People cannot sit and watch as oil prices continue to escalate, and thus they must take immediate steps to ensure there is peace in nations that supply this precious commodity. Incumbent leaders who use bribery, intimidation, or restrictions to discourage protestors cannot retain power since these options work against their expectations.

References

Collier, P. (2010). Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places. New York: Harper Perennial.

Filiu, J. (2011). The Arab Revolution: Ten Lessons from the Democratic Uprising. New York: Oxford University Press.

Haddad, B. (2012). The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order? London: Pluto Press.

Korany, B. (2012). The Arab Spring in Egypt: Revolution and Beyond. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

Lynch, M. (2012). The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East. New York: Public Affairs Books.

Willis, M. (2012). Politics and Power in the Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from Independence to the Arab Spring. New York: Columbia University Press.

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Political Power Loss in Syria, Egypt, and Tunisia

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