Best books about the arab spring

Five years ago the Middle East and North Africa was electrified by unprecedented popular protests that heralded the start of the Arab Spring. Beginning in Tunisia popular movements swept regimes from power in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya and threatened to overthrow ruling elites across the region. Tragically, the Arab Spring has since become mired in counterrevolution and civil war with the extraordinary violence of the war in Syria, the rise of ISIS, the escalating refugee crisis, and the establishment of a new dictatorship in Egypt emblematic of the profound challenges facing the people of the region. In this coruscating account of the first decade of the twenty-first century, Seumas Milne presents a powerful indictment of the United States, a global and corporate empire in decline. Milne also examines the causes of the Arab Spring and the Great Recession, reveals the policy of humanitarian military intervention to be a failed land grab, explains the dynamo behind the roaring Chinese economy and discovers new models of society flourishing in Latin America. The account of how it all began, this collection of reports from the region details the causes that underpinned the revolution before it amassed in scale. When the military turned against Mubarak, so too did the revolt, from outbursts of protest to full on revolution.

Five years on from the Tahrir Square uprising that shook the world in , we are still debating what the Arab Spring means for the Middle East and its future. In this important book, Tarek Osman examines the political, social and cultural battle raging in the Middle East, offering insightful analysis of Islamist movements in the region and what their thinking, operations and future portends for the world. Until that changes, argues Marwan Muasher, in his extremely relevant new book … none of the Arab uprisings will succeed. Friedman, New York Times. In this immensely readable and thoroughly researched book, Tarek Osman explores what has happened to the biggest Arab nation since President Nasser took control of the country in Featured image courtesy of RamyRaoof via flickr.

Five years ago the Guardian asked me to evaluate the effects of the Tunisian uprising on the rest of the Arab world, and specifically Syria. That was published on 28 January This was unprecedented. Soon afterwards, the Deraa schoolboys were arrested and tortured for writing anti-regime graffiti. When their relatives protested on 18 March, and at least four were killed, the spiralling cycle of funerals, protests and gunfire was unleashed.