Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Yemen’s accession to Libya and Syria, after the control of the Houthis on the capital of Yemen Sanaa in 2014 was the last chapter in this “Arab Spring,” which turns into full autumn exactly four years after the beginning of the spark Arab Spring. Why have most Arab Spring countries such as Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Yemen failed to accomplish the political transition towards building a democratic and liberal system achieving the dream of the youth who were at the forefront of the mass demonstrations and the millions that filled the streets of Arab capitals? Why has democratization in these countries failed, despite the success of the transformation process in other parts of the world such as the countries of Eastern Europe in the nineties of the last century, and Latin America in the eighties of the last century? Why have Arab Spring countries failed to shift from military regimes or authoritarian to democratic regimes? And instead all of these countries have almost fallen or may be already plunged into civil war. It’s hard to predict when it will end, or output, which goes to it, do these countries will return to the traps of military rule as in Egypt, or these countries will become Yemen, Syria, and Libya as failed states and fall into chaotic and full absence of public institutions. In fact, there are several reasons for this failure, and these reasons never stem from the specialty of the Arab region and lack of similarity to other parts of the world but stem entirely on the elements of the modern Arab state that ruled in those countries. And because these countries never addressed the issue of sectarianism or dealt with it, it was easy then to explode in the moment of transition.