Arab Uprisings and armed forces : between openness and resistance

Abstract

Since late 2010 an unprecedented wave of popular uprisings calling for greater political freedoms, and in several countries even regime change, has swept across much of the Arab world. Following the Tunisian revolution in January 2011, which led to the toppling of the country’s long‐standing autocrat, Zine al‐Abidine Ben Ali, protest movements gained momentum in Egypt, where the country’s president for almost 30 years, Hosni Mubarak, stepped down after some three weeks of massive anti‐regime demonstrations. In Libya, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, who had ruled since 1967, was removed from power (and subsequently killed) after a sixmonths‐ long civil war between his regime and rebel fighters opposed to his rule. In countries such as Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, seemingly wellestablished leaders have also appeared increasingly shaky in the face of growing opposition movements calling for both greater political freedoms and an end to the regimes in power.