Arab Spring: Difference between revisions
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===Libya=== | ===Libya=== | ||
===Saudi Arabia=== | ===Saudi Arabia=== | ||
==Arab country intervention | ==Arab country intervention== | ||
===Qatar=== | ===Qatar=== | ||
===United Arab Emirates=== | ===United Arab Emirates=== | ||
Revision as of 08:48, 6 April 2011
Arab Spring refers to movements toward democracy in Arab countries. It first appeared in media, probably prematurely, in 2005, to refer to assumptions that a democratic Iraqi government, formed as a result of the Iraq War, would spread.[1] The term, however, best refers to popular, apparently spontaneous, actions in 2011 that have led to new governments in Tunisia and Egypt, and probably in Yemen. It also includes increasingly intense protests in a number of countries, such as Bahrain, Jordan and Syria,; and active civil war in Libya.
National movements
Tunisia
Egypt
Yemen
Bahrain
Jordan
Syria
Libya
Saudi Arabia
Arab country intervention
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Role of non-Arab Muslim countries
Turkey is a key coalition member, but is concerned about excessive involvement in the affairs of Muslim countries.
Western response
There has been a major intervention in Libya, under United Nations (UN) and later North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) auspices. Initially, the United States led a coalition to create a no-fly zone, in Operation ODYSSEY DAWN. The U.S. position was that its specialized capabilities were needed for the prerequisite suppression of enemy air defense, but it is reducing participation as other nations move military forces into the NATO-led Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR.
Tariq Ali, writing in the Guardian (U.K.), said the West is practicing "selective vigilantism" in Libya,[2] where others observe that there are unique reasons for intervention there.