Arab Spring and Syrian Refugee Crisis: Ten Theses for Discussion
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- Published on Tuesday, 17 November 2015 21:45
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1186 .... November 18, 2015
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Arab Spring and Syrian Refugee Crisis:
Ten Theses for Discussion
Gerardo Otero and Efe Can Gürcan
Our goal is to formulate ten theses on what we believe constitutes the historical background of the Syrian refugee crisis within the context of the Arab Spring. One central argument is that Western meddling in this process was turned into a violent contest for state power that has resulted in grave human tragedy. The recent Paris attacks with over 100 fatalities -- resulting in a state-of-emergency declaration and arson of refugee camps in retaliation -- indicate that the Syrian refugee crisis has already taken on a greater importance for global politics.
1. The Arab Spring was initially a hopeful phenomenon of social mobilization against authoritarian regimes. It started... in December 2010 in Tunisia, with mobilized working class and civic organizations after the self-immolation of a street vendor repressed by police forces. Social mobilization became so vigorous that the president had to resign after three weeks.
2. Similar mobilizations began to take place in several Middle Eastern and North African countries including Egypt, Libya and Syria, but in each of these nations the degree of civil-society organization was different and the extent of meddling by Western powers also varied considerably.