TANGGOL, KHALIL TAMKEEN A.

IS 12 XA
Egypt and Tunis during the Arab Spring

Egypt has played a major role in our planet’s history, since it has existed for
more than five millennium. Currently it follows a republicism along with dual executive
system, where a president exists along with a prime minister. Egypt is located in the
northeast corner of Africa, connecting to Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai
Peninsula on both the Red Sea and the Aqaba Gulf, making Egypt as a transcontinental
country1, and technically the only Eurafrasian country in the world. They operate the
Suez Canal that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea,
which is a vital location for world economics. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of the
population lives on 5.5% on land that is situated along the Nile river delta. It is seen as
the center of the Arab world, as it seats at the crossroad between Middle East and
North Africa.
Tunisia is filled with history. The ancient ruin of Carthage, the enemy of Rome
during the Punic Wars, is located in the capital city of Tunis. Founded by the
Phoenicians during 1000 BCE. It follows a unitary form of government that is led by a
dual executive system, the president acts as the head of state and the prime minister
as the head of the government. It situated at the northwestern point of North Africa,
west of the island of Sicily, bordering the Mediterranean Sea and shares borders with
Algeria, and Libya. Although the country lack in natural resources it has a rich
agricultural sector where it has prospered for centuries, located in the mountainous
region of the country. To maintain its prosperity, it continues to have a positive
diplomatic relationship with the EU.
On December 2010, a produce vendor in Tunisia stood in front of a government
office and set himself on fire, killing himself. His actions led to a start of series of
uprising in the Arab world, which has been known as the Arab Spring, a term that came
from the Spring Revolution of 1848, when political disruption across Europe. The Arab
Spring began in Tunisia, where it had been led by an authoritarian leader, Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali for more than 2 decades. A Tunisian vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, was
harassed and humiliated by the police and the Tunisian government. After which he
went to a local government office and set himself on fire. His death sparked a massive
protest all over the country and soon all over the Arab World e.g. Libyan Revolution,
which resulted in the death of its leader Muammar Gaddafi; and the Syrian Civil War
which resulted in ending of peace talks and a full-scale civil war.
1
Miaschi, John. (2017, April 25). Which Countries Span More Than One Continent? Retrieved from
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-are-the-transcontinental-countries-of-our-world.html
 A concept known as relative deprivation, a belief that a group is not experiencing
the same value or treatment that others are experiencing. The rise of global
connectivity through social media during late 2000’s and early 2010’s helped in
spreading the awareness that the Arab people are not receiving the same treatment
others in the world have been experiencing. Personal grievances to the government
alone do not mean there is contentious politics happening, there must be resource
mobilization. Protesters arming themselves not only with signs but also with cellphones.
This allowed the movement gaining traction in social media. Some scholars argue that
the rise of social media is a low commitment form of activism, but according to Manuel
Castell (2012) social media is a new species of social movement. For Castell, it shows
that dissatisfaction of the government is the huge contributor on why revolts or protest
happens. Instead of waiting for traditional media to disseminate new information, it
may take a while, but with social media, new information is instant. The videos shared
through social media inspired others. Both countries had little to no political opportunity
structure2, since both of its ruling head were authoritarian, unlike in Jordan where King
Abdullah II was not removed but instead made reforms in their constitution and laws
and removed the prime minister and soon established a parliamentary government.
Between the two countries, Tunisia is seen as the more peaceful revolution only
having encountered with 338 deaths and less than 3,000 in injuries, whereas in Egypt
846 have died and more than 6,000 injured during the protest, but both are peaceful if
compared to other Arab nations who contributed in the Arab Spring. Both ruling parties
used political violence to end the protest. Chenoweth and Stephen (2011) argued that
there is a greater chance for a success in a revolution if it was a nonviolent one.
In the end, the people of the two countries shares a lot of dissatisfaction to the
ruling party, low wages, high unemployment rates are among the reasons why there
was a growing number of unrests among the population. Currently among the North
African states that contributed in the Arab Spring, only Tunisia has seen a peaceful
transition towards democracy. Although, it has not yet addressed its concern on
unemployment, the people have now experience greater freedom compared from the
last 2 decades. Egypt, initially had a problem with Mohamed Morsi, since he was an
even greater of an authoritarian figure compared to his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak,
but after a coup ‘d’état the following president, Adly Mansour and the current president,
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has been able to control the country and is now in a relative peace.

References
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States Institute of Peace: https://www.usip.org/publications/2019/02/tunisia-timeline-jasmine-
revolution

2
An extent to which a regime is open to influence from social movements.
Chenoweth, E., & Stephan, M. J. (2011). Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent
Conflict. Columbia University Press.

Cherkaoui, M. (2001). International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier Ltd.

Childress, S. (2013, September 17). Timeline: What’s Happened Since Egypt’s Revolution? Retrieved from
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revolution/

Contentious Politics: Social Movements, Political Violence, and Revolution. (2019). Sage Publications Inc.

History Channel. (2020, January 17). Arab Spring. Retrieved from History:
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/arab-spring

Lesch, A. M. (n.d.). Egypt's Spring: Causes of the Revolution. Retrieved from Middle East Policy Council:
https://mepc.org/egypts-spring-causes-revolution

Paulo, F. D. (2013, July 03). Folha De S. Paulo. Retrieved from UOL:

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2013/07/1305404-dissolve-brazilian-
national-congress-says-spanish-sociologist.shtml

Walker, I., & Pettigrew, P. F. (1984). Relative deprivation theory: An overview and conceptual critique .
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