Arab "Spring", or "Freezing Winter" ?

Eeshaan

New Member
I remember when this movement began, everybody had high hopes for the Arab Spring, including me. It would help curb terrorism and Islamic extremism. Democracy and education would help bring about a new era of progress in the Middle-East. And generally be a good event for the whole world.

But look how that turned out. We got Libya, Eastern Africa, Syria and Egypt as powderkegs waiting to explode. The Muslim Brotherhood doing the opposite of what they promised in Egypt. Then there's the whole Benghazi debacle. And of course there's the situation in Syria. While Islamic fundamentalists & radical elements are gaining power in east Africa. And now things are heating up in Turkey.

Why did no one expect this event to turn out so wrong ? I know US foreign policy is partially to blame (but I dont wanna make this discussion political ). But to have the region end up even worse than before this event started, that should have been a very unpleasant surprise to the pundits in the news claiming this to be the beginning of a new era of enlightenment for the middle-east.

And what do you think will be the Geo-strategic ramifications of this event, in the long run ?
 

Rimasta

Member
I remember when this movement began, everybody had high hopes for the Arab Spring, including me. It would help curb terrorism and Islamic extremism. Democracy and education would help bring about a new era of progress in the Middle-East. And generally be a good event for the whole world.

But look how that turned out. We got Libya, Eastern Africa, Syria and Egypt as powderkegs waiting to explode. The Muslim Brotherhood doing the opposite of what they promised in Egypt. Then there's the whole Benghazi debacle. And of course there's the situation in Syria. While Islamic fundamentalists & radical elements are gaining power in east Africa. And now things are heating up in Turkey.

Why did no one expect this event to turn out so wrong ? I know US foreign policy is partially to blame (but I dont wanna make this discussion political ). But to have the region end up even worse than before this event started, that should have been a very unpleasant surprise to the pundits in the news claiming this to be the beginning of a new era of enlightenment for the middle-east.

And what do you think will be the Geo-strategic ramifications of this event, in the long run ?
I think it's too soon to say what the long term ramifications are going to be in the entire region, for example a lot of posts on defense talk at the beginning of the war in Syria didn't seem to think the rebels could last very long and 2 years later fighting is only escalating. But the trends would suggest more unrest and blood shed in the region. The high hopes everyone had (myself included) seem more & more like wishful thinking looking at how the last decade has gone in the Middle East. Virtually nothing played out the way we thought it would and that continues to hold true.
 
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