Egypt's Revolution and the Arab World

{
  "authors": [
    "Michele Dunne"
  ],
  "type": "testimony",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "Arab Awakening"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "North Africa",
    "Egypt",
    "Gulf",
    "Levant",
    "Maghreb"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform"
  ]
}

Testimony

Egypt's Revolution and the Arab World

Demand for change in the Middle East and North Africa has been building for years, as youth unemployment plagued countries across the region and citizens felt their governments were not being held accountable for growing socio-economic problems.

By Michele Dunne

Published on Feb 22, 2011

Source: Women's Foreign Policy Group

The ongoing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa has its roots in similar conditions that prevail throughout the region, explained Michele Dunne in a speech at the Women's Foreign Policy Group. One of the main drivers of the tumult has been socio-economic grievances. Countries throughout the Arab world have burgeoning youth populations who find themselves with few, if any, economic opportunities. Meanwhile, most leaders of Arab countries have been in power for many years, decades in some instances, and political authority is heavily concentrated in their hands. Dunne explained that these kings and presidents are not freely elected, and thus unaccountable to the people, and the parliaments in these countries are very weak and generally unable to affect change.

Due to these phenomena, the demand for change in the region has been building for some time, Dunne said. Experts in the field did not predict the Tunisian uprising, but once it happened, it demonstrated to the people of the region that their regimes were more vulnerable than they thought and broke a barrier of fear. Since then, Dunne said, protests have swept across the region.

About the Author

Michele Dunne

Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program

Michele Dunne was a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Recent Work

Research
Islamic Institutions in Arab States: Mapping the Dynamics of Control, Co-option, and Contention
- +6
  Yasmine Farouk, Nathan J. Brown, Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen, …
Research
From Hardware to Holism: Rebalancing America’s Security Engagement With Arab States
- +8
  Robert Springborg, Emile Hokayem, Becca Wasser, …

Political Reform North Africa Egypt Gulf Levant Maghreb

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Commentary
Diwan
Less of America is More
Middle Eastern states should welcome an accelerated U.S. disengagement from their region.
Michael Young
Commentary
Diwan
The Mecca Agreement Unpacked
The accord represents a pivotal moment in the region to avert a security vacuum in the Gulf.
Azeema Cheema, Mohanad Hage Ali
Paper
Egypt’s Military Landlord Economy and its Limitations
The armed forces champion a form of capitalism that is generating revenue, but its reliance on rent faces diminishing returns, leaving the country with massive sunk costs and deferred returns, deepening dependency on external borrowing.
Yezid Sayigh
Article
From Hormuz to the Maghreb: The Geopolitical Reach of a Gulf Crisis
Morocco and Algeria, each in its own way, are having to navigate the global economic fallout of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
Yasmine Zarhloule
Commentary
Diwan
The West’s Climate Colonialism in the Greater Middle East
There is a disturbing structural parallel between the old global energy economy and the new green transition.
Angie Omar

More Work from Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Commentary

Diwan

Less of America is More

Middle Eastern states should welcome an accelerated U.S. disengagement from their region.

Michael Young

Commentary

Diwan

The Mecca Agreement Unpacked

The accord represents a pivotal moment in the region to avert a security vacuum in the Gulf.

Azeema Cheema, Mohanad Hage Ali

Paper

Egypt’s Military Landlord Economy and its Limitations

The armed forces champion a form of capitalism that is generating revenue, but its reliance on rent faces diminishing returns, leaving the country with massive sunk costs and deferred returns, deepening dependency on external borrowing.