This engaging and critical lesson unpacks the Arab Spring—a sweeping wave of uprisings that reshaped the Middle East and North Africa beginning in 2010. Students will examine the political, economic, and technological roots of the revolutions, analyze the varied outcomes in countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, and reflect on the global implications of protest, repression, and resilience. The presentation challenges students to understand the complexities of democratic change and authoritarian adaptation in the 21st century.

Students will explore:

• The spark of Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation and the role of digital activism
• Shared grievances: repression, unemployment, corruption, and youth disenfranchisement
• Tunisia’s democratic success story and the 2014 constitution
• Egypt’s rapid transition from revolution to military-backed authoritarianism
• The Rabaa Massacre and the end of Egypt’s democratic experiment
• Libya’s descent into civil war after the fall of Gaddafi
• Syria’s peaceful protests and the catastrophic civil war that followed
• The regional and international entanglements in conflicts across the Middle East
• Repression in Bahrain and muted U.S. responses
• Yemen’s collapse into civil war and humanitarian crisis
• Strategies used by regimes to contain or deflect protest (e.g., cosmetic reforms, oil subsidies, surveillance)
• The enduring influence of protest movements in Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon, and Iraq
• The rise of digital dissent and a generation transformed by revolutionary hopes and failures